PADPAO dissolves regional chapter

CEBU, Philippines - The regional chapter of the Philippine Association of Detective and Protective Agency Operators, Inc. (PADPAO) has been dissolved and member security agencies are reverted to the national organization.

The chapter president reportedly failed to liquidate funds and removed nine council representatives as members of Board of Directors.

PADPAO-7 president, lawyer Leopoldo Blanco, on the other hand, denied the allegations.

PADPAO Special Caretaker Committee chairperson, Col. Manuel Espejo, said that last September 2013, nine council representatives of PADPAO-7 signed a manifesto withdrawing their support for Blanco due to loss of trust and confidence.

They are lawyer Edgar Gica, Engr. Ramoncito Arquiza, Bella Asuncion Gillamac, Col. Cesar Veloso, James Rendon, Romulo Aying, Col. Antonio Medija, Engr. Sesinando Mariano and lawyer Michelle Palmares.

They also came up with a resolution requesting for the dissolution of PADPAO-7 and requested that all regional positions be declared vacant while its members be reverted to the national PADPAO.

Gica said that they were ousted by Blanco as members of the board and officers of PADPAO-7 due to “gross disrespect and discourtesy.”

He said that PADPAO’s amended by-laws as approved by  the Securities and Exchange Commission provides that a director of the association could only be removed from office by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the organization.

The resolution further stated that the ouster of nine members was “null and void.”

The national PADPAO and Blanco signed a memorandum of understanding stating Blanco’s power to solicit funds and administer the construction of the national PADPAO building in Quezon City.

Gica said that Blanco refused to render proper accounting of the funds amounting to P22.5 million which he solicited from PADPAO members for the building construction and to liquidate the P1.5 million excess funds to the audit committee of  PADPAO.

He said that Blanco made the members believed that the PADPAO-7 is registered under SEC but was proven otherwise. He added that the 21 elected council representatives of PADPAO-7 also violates Article VII Section 1 of the organization’s by-laws that limits to 15 council members.

He added that as opposed to the one-year term of chapter president, Blanco deceived its members by sitting as the president for 14 years while serving as a chairman of the association itself, cooperative and training center of  PADPAO-7.

Blanco told The FREEMAN that the accusations of the council representatives are “unfair” and named them as his “detractors”.

He said that if they are confident with their evidence, they could have directly brought the matter to the court.

“The resolution has no basis. It has a lot of errors. It contains information that is meant to derail and destroy the image of the chapter which has been a model under my term,” he said.

He added that the nine members who came up with the resolution cannot wait for the PADPAO-7 election that is set to happen on March 19.

He also denied the allegation of  him refusing to render an accounting to PADPAO since the responsibility was designated to the accountant and financial officer of the project.

He cited that out of the P22.5 million, P11 million has been solicited within Region-7 while P6 million from other regions. He added that the nine council representatives only donated P150,000 each out of the P1 million agreed donation from them.

“Galit sila kasi the authority of the PADPAO national building was given to the cooperative,” he said.

Espejo explained that chapter councils of PADPAO are intended for easier management of national PADPAO and harmonize regional chapters across the country.

He said that they are planning to reopen PADPAO-7 once members can organize themselves and conduct an election “the soonest”.

Gica said that criminal cases such as estafa and falsification were filed against Blanco before the City Prosecutor’s Office.

He also encouraged their member companies to fill out the application form from the national PADPAO.

PADPAO-7 has 99 Cebu-based security agencies, 62 non-based members and three company guard forces. —/GMR (FREEMAN)