Warring BF Homes groups hold separate polls

 Two supposedly successful homeowners’ elections by warring United BF Homeowners Association Inc. (UBFHAI) officials and members were held in BF Homes Parañaque over the weekend.

Both camps claim to have had the support of residents, who remain confused on which group to support.

UBFHAI president Celso Reyes said their group was able to successfully hold general elections supervised by the organization’s election committee (Elecom) last Saturday.

He said he was re-elected while Alfred de Leon was elected vice president, Al Lopez as secretary, Vangie Yuboco as auditor, and Tudy Yotoko as public relations officer.

Reyes said newly-elected officials of their UBFHAI faction were duly proclaimed by elecom members and will officially assume their posts tomorrow.

“I was re-elected by 36 association presidents,” he said noting that the organization currently has 68 smaller homeowner’s group heads.

On the other hand, former UBFHAI president Rolando Navarro said sectoral elections conducted by members of the management committee (mancom) created by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) were also successful.

According to him, 11 out of the 15 sectors of the UBFHAI participated in the process while only a handful joined that of Reyes.

“Our elections was supervised and witnessed by the HLURB. Majority of the 15 sectors participated,” Navarro told The STAR.

He said the mancom’s general election of officers will be held on April 12, adding that “for delicadeza,” he will not run for president.

He dubbed the other group’s act of calling and conducting their own elections as another move that directly violates orders of the HLURB.

“Stubborn,” Navarro described Reyes and the latter’s supporters, whom he has accused of engaging in allegedly questionable financial transactions that suggest misuse of funds.

Antonio Antonio, one of the members of the mancom, said the issue is all about who has the authority to call and conduct UBFHAI elections.

“We will use that against them. That is a complete violation of the commissioner’s directive,” he said, referring to HLURB Commissioner Romulo Fabul’s Feb. 29 order reaffirming earlier resolutions naming the mancom as the only authorized body tasked to call and conduct UBFHAI polls.

“All illegal. They do not have authority. They say that their case is on appeal, appeal does not give them authority,” Antonio stressed.

Reyes, in reaction, said “they are supervised by HLURB, we are supervised by the elecom,” stressing that the graft case against them before the HLURB – which was the basis for the creation of the mancom last year – has been brought before the attention of the Office of the President and is under appeal.