The By-Laws of the Negros Oriental Football Association (NORFA) prescribe the following:
1. “Annual Meetings — The annual meetings of the members shall be held at the principal office of the association on the 2nd Saturday of December of each year. The President shall render his annual report to the members regarding the activities of the association. The election of directors shall also be held during this regular meeting…The fiscal year of the Association shall be from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st of each year.”
Comment: Since the meeting and election of directors held in 2006, or more than five years ago, no subsequent meeting or election was held. The current officers of NORFA are, therefore, overstaying. The President has failed to render any annual report to the members regarding the as required.
2. “Board of Trustees — The corporate powers of the association, its business conducted and its property controlled by the Board of Trustees…The trustees shall hold office for one year and until their successors are duly elected and qualified.”
Comment: With no elections held for more than five years, the current trustees are likewise overstaying.
3. Officers — “The officers of the association shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. They shall be elected by the Board of Trustees from among themselves…All officers of the association shall hold office for one year and until their successors are duly elected and qualified.”
Comment: The current officers of NORFA are supposed to hold office for only one year.
4. “Functions and Powers of Officers — The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the association. He shall preside in all meetings of the members of the association and the board of trustees…He shall execute all resolutions of the Board of Trustees…He shall submit to the Board as soon as possible after the close of each fiscal year, and to the members of each annual meeting, a complete report on the activities and operations of the association for the fiscal year under his term…The Secretary shall give all notices required by these by-laws and keep minutes of all meetings of the members and the Board of Trustees in a book kept for the purpose…He shall have custody of the members register and the correspondence files of the association…The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds, receipts and disbursements of the association…He shall keep and have charge of the book of accounts…”
Comment: Foundation University has not received, nor is in possession of, any tangible documentary evidence manifesting compliance by the current officers of NORFA of having performed their functions and powers as prescribed in the association’s By-Laws, for more than five years.
5. “Members — The board shall determine the qualification of an applicant for membership…(who shall have) the following rights: a) To exercise the right to vote on all matters relating to the affairs of the association; b) To be eligible to any elective or appointive office of the association; c) To participate in all deliberations/meetings of the association…(e) To examine all the records or books of the association during business hours.”
“Duties and Responsibilities of Members — a) To obey and comply with the by-laws, rules and regulations that may be promulgated by the association from time to time; b) To attend all meetings of the association; and to pay membership dues and other assessments of the association.”
Comment: In the company of a former official of FU, I attended a meeting of NORFA in 2006 to elect its new set of officers. Despite FU’s vigorous football program, I wasn’t aware if the University was a member of NORFA. So I inquired and was told FU needs to pay a membership fee. On June 6, 2011, we paid P500 with OR #0255, which included arrears from June 6, 2007 to June 6, 2011.
I have raised questions regarding the roster of members of NORFA. Last year, I informed the NORFA President that FU is willing to host a general assembly of members just so that we could get our acts together. We reached out to him, invited him to grace the various football and futsal tournaments that FU had organized, gave him the honor to address the crowd and award prizes to the winners. We posted streamers at the game venue to honor him as special guest. But he treated our magnanimous gestures and goodwill with cavalier posturing.
We submitted to the NORFA President our complaints regarding the behavior of two NORFA coaches whom we wanted to be banned for inflicting violence on FU coaches. These complaints have been ignored, and in a gesture of complete unmindfulness of the ethics of sports, one of the coaches continues to coach the NORFA U-23 football team.
This summer, NORFA failed to field a single team in the PFF Football Caravan held in Talisay City. FU fielded an U-12 and U- 14 teams without any assistance from NORFA. Worse, the President of NORFA ignored the request of PFF to organize a team of U-13 girls to participate in the National Eliminations Tournament to select members of the national team that will compete in Vietnam in November.
Foundation University formed a 15-member team from football clubs in the Province, and managed to bring home the 3rd place trophy. Four of the girls are now undergoing a one-month training in Manila as potential members of the national team. FU funded the participation of these U-13 girls which included transportation, meals, snacks, and incidental expenses. The manager of Anthonies Football Club of Dumaguete City, whose daughter was part of the team, took care of buying the other personal necessities of the young girls.
And this brings up the question: Shouldn’t the current NORFA President resign and allow the Vice-President, Mayor Chiquiting Sagarbarria, to take over his place?
With Mayor Sagarbarria at the helm, and his brother-in-law Dodo Bustamante who single-handedly is keeping NORFA operational, the Association will gain the respectability and support it needs to promote football, currently a national passion.
Only Mayor Chiquiting Sagarbarria, as president of NORFA, can save football in Negros Oriental. He should take over karon dayon because of the forthcoming Philippine National Games that will be held here starting May 26.
Needless to say, I will submit a copy of this piece to Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, PFF president, to seek his support of this campaign aimed at making Negros Oriental their partner in pursuing the FIFA vision: The Future is Asia.
