Tuesday, 07 September 2004

To the Board of Trustees                                                 

FELINE FANCIERS OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC.

SJG Centre

Don Pedro Street corner Kalayaan Avenue

Makati City

Dear Trustees,

 This is to formally request that our cat, Majesticats’ Gorgeous Posing, with FFPI Registration No. 01-00028-1111 C, be issued a Certified Partial Pedigree.

 We have previously requested the Board for her pedigree via a personal communication with then President, Mrs. Rhodora “Pandit” Zamora, and were informed that she will have to consult the other Board members if our request will be allowed.

 Mrs. Zamora informed us through a telephone conversation that our request cannot be granted, since our cat, Gorgeous Posing, is a Class-C cat, and it is club policy that only Class A cats are to be issued certified pedigrees.  May I remind this august body that even international cat associations such as the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) to which the FFPI, we were informed, is affiliated, or is still seeking affiliation, The International Cat Association (TICA), the Traditional Cat Association (TCA), and other international cat associations issue three-generation pedigrees.  If the FFPI, though independent from the aforementioned clubs and associations has a different position on issuing certified pedigrees of less-than-five generations, then we are formally requesting for an explanation of such.  Has the trustees executed a formal resolution properly notarized by a notary public in its previous meetings that would say that this is the position of the club?  Because frankly, no Implementing Rules and Regulations of how the club’s system called Listing  (as indicated in the FFPI brochure that were given to us, when we were recruited to become members of the club) had ever been issued to us.

 It has reached us through the “grapevine” that the reason why the club does not issue pedigrees for cats with less than 5-generations of recorded ancestry is because the current officers doubt the purity of the breeds of the cats registered with the club.  If this is so, I would also like an explanation for such, as we personally submitted all our non-pedigreed cats for inspection when we registered them with the club.  If it is the trustees’ position that all cats with less than five generation of documented ancestry are not purebred, then it is our opinion that this whole system of listing is not done in good faith since we all hold cats of doubtful purity, even if the officers of the FFPI has issued Certificates of Ownership to these cats, with both the club President and Secretary certifying the cats’ breeds.

 Our cat, Gorgeous Posing’s FFPI-issued Certificate of Ownership issued on January 15, 2004, indicates that subject cat is a Red-White Persian, certifying the fact that she is indeed recognized as a Persian cat.  Nowhere in the said certificate was it indicated as a disclaimer of any form, that the Club has reservations as to the cat being a specimen of the Persian breed which is of doubtful purity.  If the club indeed doubts the purity of the cats duly registered with it, then would it be safe to assume that the Certificates of Ownership we hold that were issued to us by this club are not worth anything at all and do not signify that we own purebred cats? Does it mean that the effort put in by the breeder from whom we acquired our cat in making sure that her non-pedigree queen is mated with pedigree males so that her offspring go up the “pedigree ladder” were all done in vain?  In the same manner, are our efforts in making sure that our non-ped queens be mated ONLY with ped males, acts of futility?

 We urge you to explain and educate us, as well as the other members who were, like us, told that this system the club calls Listing is the answer so that our beloved cats will be put on equal footing with pedigree cats, because the club is currently sending us the wrong signal.

 If this is not true, then we don’t see why our demand that our cat be issued her certified partial record of ancestry should not be granted, because we underwent all the procedures we were told to do in the proper documentation of our cat.  We believe that we are not only entitled to this document, but it is also our legal right to be provided with such document.  I have consulted with a lawyer friend and I have been advised that we can test the legality of my claim in court, if it is not resolved amicably.

 Another very important thing here is we believe that there may be a confusion in what a pedigree is.  Every dictionary we consult all give us the same definition:  a pedigree is a record of ancestry, and no dictionary would identify the word pedigree with the pureness or purity of a breed, so in the final analysis, we don’t see why any doubt of a purity in the recorded breed of a registered cat with the FFPI will in any way hinder the club to issue a Certified pedigree, partial or full, when all it is asked to provide is a record of a specific cat’s ancestry, and not a certificate of its pureness-purity, or non-pureness-non-purity.  Forgive us for our boldness, but we believe we can confidently say that no one in the Philippines can even dare certify that a specific cat is pure or not for sheer lack of expertise, unless any one or all the club’s trustees dare challenge our claim.

 We believe that we have explained our side thoroughly in this letter, and the ball is now on your side.  We still believe that the club exists truly “…to promote the interest of owners, fanciers and breeders of cats” as indicated in the FFPI brochure, and will appreciate the fact that our request does not in any way violate any of the principles that the FFPI upholds.

 We consider this matter very urgent, and we hope that you will treat this with the same passion as we, and we urge you to revert to us within 72 hours for an official position, or we would take it that you do not consider this matter urgent, and so we will have to find ways and means to protect ours and our cats’ interests.

 Thank you.

 AngelPurr Bengals and Persians

By:

Monday, 13 September 2004

To the Board of Trustees

FELINE FANCIERS OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC.

SJG Centre

Don Pedro Street corner Kalayaan Avenue

Makati City

 Trustees,

 This refers to the letter we faxed your office on September 07, 2004, which has remained unanswered six days later, when I specifically asked that a reply be given within 72 hours.

 For your information, your treasurer, Teresita Tong sent us a message and asked us to contact her, not as a Board Member, but “Ate Tess”.  She asked us “can we sit and tok one on one?”, (reference:  her text message sent 09/09/2004; 07:12:34pm.).

 We concurred and called her in her home and we had a long telephone conversation.  We, on one line, and she on the other.  We were not made aware if she was with anyone else, who could have heard or witnessed what we talked about.

 Let me just summarize what we talked about:

1. Mrs. Teresita Tong said that it was Ms. Cristina Peczon’s idea to put up a Yahoo! Group for the Feline Fanciers of the Philippines, Inc., aptly called felinefanciersphils;
2. Mrs. Tong further said that Ms. Cristina Peczon was the one who put-up and registered the group and therefore is its owner and moderator;
3. It was Ms. Cristina Peczon who decided to ban us from the group because we posted messages that were derogatory to FFPI, and that the Board has no knowledge of this banning;
4. However, according to Teresita Tong, Cristina Peczon is still a Board Member, so the Board has to take partial responsibility for what happened;
5. Mrs. Tong also told us that just recently, her daughter assumed moderatorship of the group to help Cristina with her load;
6. She (Teresita Tong) asked us why we did not refer the matter of our requesting a Certififed Partial Pedigree for our cat, Gorgeous Posing, as she would have issued us one for her immediately.  We agreed that this will not be a full pedigree, since the subject cat is a Class-C;
7. We also talked about our Class D cat, Furball’s Chrissie Kashmyrrh, who she said she will give a Certified Partial Pedigree for, no problem;
8. She said we can have the said pedigrees anytime we want;
9. She said that the President, Mrs. Rhodora Zamora could not have promised that she (Rhodora) will answer our query point by point in the groups because there were participants there who were not actually members;
10. I told her Mrs. Zamora indeed promised us that she will look into the matter, review all that had transpired, and will reply to my queries POINT BY POINT. That was her assurance.  Also present at the time aside from us was FFPI Secretary Carolyn Chuasoto.
11. She (Teresita Tong) cannot contradict what Mrs. Zamora told us because we both heard her say it, and Mrs. Tong was not there to have a say on what Mrs. Zamora promised or not;
12. Mrs. Tong also recounted to us a previous talk she had with Mrs. Zamora in the occasion of Ms. Peczon’s birthday held at the White Cross Orphanage in San Juan;  She said that Mrs. Zamora felt so awkward being in the same place we were, to which we replied how come, as we did not, because we were not guilty of any wrongdoing;
13. We also talked about the matter of the elections.  We asked why there were no explanations as to why the elections hasn’t pushed through, when the By-Laws specifically states that it should occur every year, in time for the association’s annual meeting, which should be any day in March, as stipulated in the By-Laws;
14. She said that the reason for the delay was that the Board members were all busy and that a quorum was difficult to obtain, so that the Board can plan for the elections;
15. Her reaction to all these:  “pasensya na lang, Phillippe, John, hindi kami nakapag issue ng memo sa members.”

Mrs. Tong, Trustees:  It is not the decision of the Board to delay or move the elections, even if you unanimously decide for it, because that would constitute an amendment to the club’s By-Laws, and Article IX, Section 1 clearly states that “THESE BY-LAWS, OR ANY PROVISION THEREOF, MAY BE AMENDED OR REPEALED BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF THE MEMBERS AND BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF THE TRUSTEES AT ANY REGULAR OR SPECIAL MEETING DULY HELD FOR THE PURPOSE.”  A Board resolution, even though by the board en banc, clearly has no power to amend any of the provisions of the By-Laws, especially on something so important as the election of officers who shall ably lead the club to meet its goals.  This is clearly a gross violation of the officers and we demand an explanation.  We repeat; no formal explanation was given to us members why this is so, not to this very day.  You are bound by the nature of your election to your offices, to explain to the members what is going on.  We do not wish to be the ones to remind this board, but our conscience will rise supreme over any form of “pakikisama”.  The officers of this club cannot act as if they own the club.  You are not above the members, as you were placed there to serve the club and its members.

 The officers have announced the holding of the 2004 elections during the Fun Match hosted by Animal Scene in November, 2003, and at the Christmas Party in December, 2003, the undersigned being present in both occasions.

 We are taking this opportunity to submit to you what we believe are violations of the Board to what the Club stands for, to wit:

Violations to the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws

of the Feline Fanciers of the Philippines, Inc:

Since December, 2003, the following gross violations to the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws had been committed to the club and its members:

ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

1. Club’s Purpose or purposes:
   1. “To sponsor special programs and seminars, to promote the interest and knowledge of all domestic cats.”  I don’t recall being invited to a single congregation of the members that involved special programs and/or seminars.

BY-LAWS

2. Article I, Section 1.  Annual meetings -  The annual meetings of the members shall be held at the Principal office of the Association on any date in March of this 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.  -  No meeting/election ever occurred.  An explanation of why this did not take place was never issued to this day.

3. Article III, Section 2.  Term of Office of Officers.  All officers of the association shall hold office for one year and until their successors are duly elected and qualified.  -  Since there was no explanation as to the cancellation of the annual meeting/election was offered, all incumbent officers are overstaying; their capacity as “holdover” officers is not mandated by the club members.

4. Article IV, Section 1.  President.  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 of the activities and operations of the association for the fiscal year under his term.  Notwithstanding the absence of an annual meeting of members, I have never received either by e-mail, snail mail, fax, or any other means, a full disclosure of reports of the activities of the club for the entire year.

5. Article V, Section 2. Rights of Members.  A member shall have the following rights:  …To participate in all deliberations/meetings of the association…  -  Since there was no meeting ever called for the purpose of planning the election, the entire time the undersigned was very active in the association, the undersigned took it upon himself to air the concerns of the members, especially those election related, in the Yahoo! Groups specifically created by the club to discuss club-matters online.  The officers, instead of answering the query, instead banned the undersigned and his partner, with no explanation of the grounds of the banning, whatsoever.

6. The FFPI, being a club that is financed by the money of its members, donations and other contribution, it follows that the Officers should be accountable to the members.  We therefore demand a report of the financial condition of the club for the fiscal years 2003 to 2004, the time when we are active members of the club.

This is our ultimatum:  If we do not receive a formal reply within 48 hours on each and every count in this correspondence, then we will be compelled to bring this out to the public.

We will not accept anything less than a formal written reply.  Not a phone call, not a meeting; because the officers we have talked to seem to have a habit of saying that some of the things they said were misunderstood, or that statements said by them were taken to mean differently than what they said or intended to mean.

I am not so sure with these officers, but we have a good command of both the English and Filipino languages.  Because of these experience of these officers not being able to remember what they say, we require that all be put on paper.

Thank you.

AngelPurr Bengals and Persians

By:

A transcript of text messages exchanged between me(JOHN) and Teresita Tong

Wednesday, September 22, 2004, p.m.

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