PCFI Is Mortgage Free!
by Roger L. Caculitan
Past PCFI Chairman of the Board 2010-2012
Finally, at the last official Board meeting of the 2012-2014 administration headed by Rocky Barrido as Chairman of the Board, the Board of Directors approved to pay off the balance of the mortgage of the Bayanihan Arts and Events Center. The Treasurer, Liberty Galloway, officially paid off the mortgage balance in May, 2014.
The early payment of the mortgage happened because it was an idea from the beginning. On November 4, 2001, not long after the completion of the Bayanihan Arts and Events Center, Jess Loquias and Bob Ruelo conceived the idea of writing the Who’s Who Book, which would contain a write-up about the donor (individual, family or association) for a donation of $1,000 per page and given a bronze leaf on the Donation Tree at the BAEC lobby. The funds raised from this project would be used solely to pay down the mortgage. This project was so successful that almost $100,000 was raised, which was then used to pay down the mortgage. After a few years of soliciting more donors for the Who’s Who Book project (the second volume is in the planning stage, but the bronze leaf for every donor is already on the Donation Tree and the funds collected have been included in paying down the mortgage), more marketing, more successful PhilFests and profitable Sampaguita Balls and other fundraising activities, making our beautiful Bayanihan Arts and Events Center known to the public, coupled by the able management of Rudy Bautista, our business management director from 2007-2014, the Foundation started generating profit. We are fortunate to have had dedicated and knowledgeable people looking after our finances such as: Emeng Germino, Treasurer until 2012, Rudy Curioso, Accountant until 2011, Liberty Galloway, Treasurer from 2012 until now and Vivian Dudgeon, Finance Committee Chairman from 2012 to the present. They saw to it that we were able to maintain bank balances at comfortable levels. This was possible because of the collective effort of the PCFI Member Organizations, the overwhelming support for all our events from the community and the excellent management of all of the past and present Chairmen. Our good financial position gave the Board confidence to vote for a sizable payment on the mortgage from time to time. This was done year after year from the term of Bing Santiano, 2008-2010, through Roger Caculitan’s term in 2010-2012 to Rocky Barrido’s term in 2012-2014. During the term of Rocky Barrido, the Finance Committee, headed by Vivian Dudgeon, recommended bigger amounts towards the mortgage pay-off, since we did not undertake any capital projects. The accelerated payments resulted in such a small balance remaining at the end of Rocky’s term that the Board finally voted to pay it in full.
So, what now? Well, our founding fathers’ purpose in starting this Foundation is to have a cultural center for the purpose of educating the community about our Philippine heritage and to have a facility that the community can use. The cultural side has been implemented and is currently on-going in full force through the able leaderships of Joey Omila, Olive Santiano and Nhick Ramiro Pacis. On the community use, the Board is working very hard to reduce expenses so that everybody can use it at a minimal cost. However, because our facilities have aged, we have plenty of major and minor repairs, maintenance and upkeep to do. There are also a couple of projects that we need to accomplish. One is replacing the remaining wood fence in front with concrete wall similar to the rest of the wall and re-arranging the wetland so that we can gain an additional usable area of approximately 0.6 acre, that can be developed for additional parking or a picnic/camping area.
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to call on the Filipino community to come and check our Bayanihan Arts and Events Center, if you have not seen it yet. You will be amazed at how beautiful it is and I am sure it will make you proud of our heritage. And, if you are planning an event: wedding, baptism, anniversary, debut or any other social event, check with our Cultural Affairs Director, Joey Omila. You may reach him at (813) 925-1232.
The Bayanihan Arts and Events Center is located at 14301 Nine Eagles Drive, Tampa, FL 33626.