Sued by member: Priests, officials of charitable group asked to account P7M

CEBU, Philippines - Some 11 officials and priests of a charitable institution in Carcar City were asked to account for the money they received and disbursed amounting to about P7 million since 2002.

A member of the foundation, Venus Perez of Perrelos, Carcar City, filed a case before a trial court against the officials for assuming as members and officers of the foundation's Board of Trustees without the conduct of elections for about 10 years since the foundation was established in 2001.

 This allegedly violated the foundation's by-laws, Perez said.

 "Therefore, respondents must make an accounting for all of the money that they received and disbursed during the time they appointed themselves as members and officers of the Board of Trustees," she stated.

The FREEMAN withheld the name of the organization and its officials pending the issuance of their statement.

Perez also said the officials should reveal all of the bank accounts or investments where they deposited or invested the money of the foundation.

"The acts of respondents in controlling millions of pesos belonging to (the foundation) are without authority, and thus must be declared null and void," she said.

The foundation provides specialized services to people with mental disabilities and to their families.

Since 2005, the group's Board of Trustees has been taking control of the financial transactions. They even declared a "combined liabilities and financial transactions" of the foundation amounting to P7,391,113 in 2014.

When Perez discovered that the respondents were acting illegally as the Board of Trustees' members, she said she wrote a letter asking the foundation's president and secretary to allow her to inspect the foundation's books and minutes of the supposed election.

Her request was reportedly turned down because she is no longer a member of the foundation.

Perez also asked the court to order the officials to pay her P100,000 as temperate damages; P100,000 as exemplary damages and P50,000 as litigation expenses. (FREEMAN)