Filipino BC defends funds distribution with former board members calling for transparency

Lina Vargas was on the board for almost two years and told Global News that accountability and transparency are fundamental rights for all community members.

Four former Filipino BC board directors are calling for immediate and full financial transparency from the organization regarding all funds raised for the April 26 Lapu Lapu Day Festival tragedy.

They said some families have reported they are still waiting months and have not received any meaningful assistance.

Lina Vargas was on the board for almost two years and told Global News that accountability and transparency are fundamental rights for all community members.

“During the Lapu Lapu (event), I stayed with all my volunteers until 3 a.m. just to clean up every, and I witness, you know, those people who are a victim, so that’s really disturbing for us to not know what’s going on,” she said.

Eleven people were killed and dozens more were injured when an SUV drove into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival on April 26.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised following the incident and in November, the Filipino community said it is closer than ever in the decades-long push for a Filipino cultural centre.

“Perhaps if we had a home, things might have been a little bit different in this healing process,” Warren Dean Flandez with the Filipino Legacy Society told Global News at that time.

In a statement, Filipino BC said the four people who signed a letter calling for more transparency are no longer board members or “in good standing” of the Filipino Canadian Community and Cultural Society of British Columbia.