Doc Kiko's Fight for Transparency in FCT Lives On

Volume 2, Issue No. 58

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

 Our latest as of Tuesday, February 23, 2021 

~ This freedom-loving advocate for transparency and accountability had to endure the brickbats in his fight for transparency and accountability in the organization he had co-founded in Toronto. Tarred and feathered while wholly into the squabble, Dr. Francisco S. Portugal had succeeded in regaining his honor and restored it to its pristine self, only to be stopped midway by adversaries too weak to stand for principle.

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FRANCISCO S. PORTUGAL

The Doctor Who Fought for Honor and Principle

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Bravery is born of a conviction so deep that not to act is not to live.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

TORONTO - When I re-uploaded last month the article I had written in October 2014 about the legal settlement reached by the non-profit Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) and Dr. Francisco Portugal, nobody knew it would develop into some kind of a testimonial to his principled life.

"Doc Kiko," the endearment his many friends, associates, and patients, bestowed on him through decades of medical practice in the Filipino community, had passed away on Friday, February 19, 2021, his family has announced in an online obituary. (https://www.forevermissed.com/drfrancisco-portugal/about).

It struck me that this soft-spoken family physician would be mired in a dispute with FCT the first time I met him, for talking to him I got the impression he would be the last person to whip up controversy. Take into account his professional role in the community, the less reason there was he would engage in such exercise. He was not into grandstanding.

People speak highly of him, and for all the good reasons.

Lucy Adea worked as a secretary at his clinic in Toronto. "During those eight years, I witnessed how dedicated he was as a family doctor," she writes. "Not only to the medical side of every patient but to the personal aspects of an individual," she says. "Anything you asked from him, he will try and make sure he will be of help. He won’t say No, he will find ways to be of help and assistance to each who will seek help from him".

Violy Boltron adds: "Doc Kiko was unfazed by anything. He had a cool 'as a cucumber' attitude with everything. Patients and friends loved him. He was that kind of person who never said 'no' to anyone asking for help or favor. He was the go-to man if one needs his support, his opinion".

Marife Laceda shares her impression: "A good father, provider and has that cheerful demeanour towards people. He has that charisma most doctors don’t have. You see a man who cared much about his profession and you could always speak to him and accommodate you as a person. Through those years, he remained as popular and the same doctor people would want to see . . .tireless and effortless".

Caught in the midst of wrangling typical in Filipino community associations, there he was, standing tall, fighting for his honor, insisting on his rights, and leading the way for the organization he had co-founded to open up and be accountable to its members.

Then and only then did I realize that Doc Kiko was a man of principle. His forced departure from FCT was the type of bullying he had never tolerated. So he put up a spirited fight, never mind that it would drag on for years at great cost.

The stakes were high - his reputation as a doctor, as a family man, as an exemplary member of the community, and as a friend and associate to many people, including his patients who looked up to him.

For one steeped in medicine, it seemed unlikely that he would, and he did, advocate for rights familiar to those in the media - the ability to speak one's mind without fear. He had a fair understanding of those inalienable rights exercised in democratic countries and lived them through his advocacy. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/filipino-centre-torontos-arrogance.html).

"The defense of our right to speak, to dissent and to differ" - the bedrock of his principle - had been curtailed at the same forum where his name had been unsuccessfully tarnished, and now restored to its pristine self, by the very people who had sought his removal.

The reality of it all was obvious even to the lay observer. While he was being reinstated as a member of FCT in good standing, he was also being squeezed out. He was welcomed in the most unwelcome way! (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlJH4SIYsc&list=UUjYsgGZZAP7lpqJczW4z47g).

Yet all Doc Kiko had wanted was for FCT to be transparent with its finances and its officials held answerable for their deeds. 

Since October 2014 when the controversy supposedly ended, FCT remains stingy with its financial status. It's no exaggeration to say FCT is hermetically-sealed with monies and how they are spent.

Current FCT officials led by Mary Ann San Juan, FCT president, and Efren de Villa, FCT chair, have repeatedly paid lip service to their public declarations of transparency and accountability. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZFXKzvQqYY).

"There's a four-million-dollar reason for their refusal to call a members' meeting and lay everything on the table," says a member who did not want to be identified because of personal friendship with officials. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/12/fcts-masterpiece-of-gobbledygook.html).

The big question that has not been properly addressed was the payment of $678,000 to individual claimants who were either officers, volunteers, or members, soon after FCT sold its old building for $5.9 million and bought a fixer-upper as its new office for $1.9 million. That's where the $4 million came from, and whose whereabouts are not clear.

Doc Kiko may be gone, but his high moral principle will continue to haunt FCT and its officials. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).