The community centre was supposed to be the pride and joy of B.C.'s Filipinos.
A place where Filipino-Canadians could congregate, commune and celebrate.

But the land on which the dream was supposed to be built on is now at the centre of a raging controversy that is tearing the community apart.

Accusations of secret deals and questionable connections, conflicting visions and personality clashes have landed the Filipino dream in a B.C. Supreme Court.

While the battle rages, the land in question -  a prime 1.7 acre parcel of development property located just two blocks from Surrey's Gateway SkyTrain station – has been sold to four Indo-Canadian brothers who plan to cash in on the real estate boom.

One faction claims that the property – readily subdividable into 20 residential building lots – was sold off at a fraction of its true value.

It claims that Marcelino “Mars” dela Cruz, the controversial president of the Philippine Community Centre Society (PCCS), exceeded his authority in orchestrating the “secret” sale, and has applied to the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to undo the 2007 election that brought dela Cruz to power.

If sucessful, this group led by Bob De Guzman could undo the deal, which is supposed to close on August 29.

For his part, dela Cruz maintains that the deal was the best thing for the society.
He described the sale –  announced in a Philippine Community Centre Society Dec. 2007 newsletter -  as “a windfall” for the PCSS.

The former newspaperman and restauranteur says the $2,025,000 deal for the 1.7-acre property has made the society the “richest Filipino Canadian association in British Columbia, if not in entire Canada.”

“We were obligated to sell the property for this price which we believe was a very good price instead of losing everything to the local government of Surrey through an auction for non-payment of property taxes.”

The PCCS was founded in 1992 by Filipino travel agent Oscar Tiu with the primary mandate of building a community centre to serve the needs of Filipinos in Surrey – a multi-purpose sports and cultural centre managed by Filipinos but available to all the communities.
The land was originally leased to the Society from the City of Surrey, and was later purchased by PCCS for $550,000.

But unpaid taxes on the land accumulated and the city was threatening to auction of the land.
This prompted a series of actions;

Three sisters and one of their friends – Trinidad “Treenee Lopez, Terry Drexler y Lopez, Teodora Lopez and Belen Lumapas -  came forward to pay the back taxes amounting to about $58,000;

Accountants then told the PCCS that their original investment of $200,000 for the land (the balance was financed) had grown by 260 percent and the land was now worth more than $2 million.

Dela Cruz told The Asian Pacific Post  the property was in  danger of being put on the auction block this April for outstanding property taxes.

His rival De Guzman, who leads the PCCS breakaway group calling itself Caring Team, maintain that it was dela Cruz' stewardship of the society that landed it in hotwater with the municipal taxman in the first place.

The sale, De Guzman, said is “illegal” because there was no “community consultation” done among its general membership prior to the deal with the Indo-Canadian group of developer brothers.

“It is but right that the Filipino community be consulted (first) before any sale was made,” De Guzman told the Asian Pacific Post. "The sale was kept secret from all of us.”

At the height of its popularity, the PCCS boasted more than 3,000 active members. Today, says De Guzman, the Society limps along with just 300 members.

De Guzman, a retired engineer who completed his Masters in Business Administration at the Simon Fraser University, says that the membership roster shrunk because “they have lost the trust and confidence in the leadership of PCCS headed by dela Cruz.”

As the land controversy heats up, the De Guzman faction was in B.C. Supreme Court this week  to challenge the results of the PCCS election which was held last September.

"The Caring Team is still fighting to have the membership applications reviewed by the courts,”  De Guzman told the Asian Pacific Post. “Should the Court nullify the September 9, 2007 elections a new election for the PCCS will be done soon.”

If that happens, the dela Cruz orchestrated land deal will be scuttled.

A hearing on the elections results is expected to be held in May.

Documents obtained by the Asian Pacific Post show that a Contract of Purchase and Sale was executed for the Grovesnor Road property on October 1, 2007. The buyers are Dhesa Group Holdings Ltd. and three-numbered companies, all of Surrey, B.C.

A non-refundable deposit of $100,000 was made Oct. 17, 2007, with an additional final deposit of $200,000 on March 5. The sale is to be completed on August 29, 2008.

While dela Cruz says the deal is a “windfall” for the Filipino community, realestate experts suggest the deal was a fire sale in the context of Metro Vancouver's booming property market.

Property developers contacted by the Asian Pacific Post doubted that the society could find another site with same land area and available public facilities for only $2 million. The current site is a corner lot which could be subdivided and converted into no less than 20 medium-sized lots with 30-foot frontages.

Some local developers said the property is “easily” worth in excess of $5 million.

“Selling the land is a big loss for the PCCS. There is no way the Society can find comparable land with the net proceeds of the sale to build a new one,” said De Guzman.

For his part dela Cruz has dismissed the allegations by his rivals blaming “bad politics” and “personal vendettas”

He blamed “misguided former directors of the society”and the “libelous press” - naming four Filipino community publications – for trying to destroy the reputation of PCCS and stunting its ability to raise funds.

Dela Cruz said his rivals have already lost a series of court cases against him and the PCCS.
The PCCS, he said, was now accepting suggestions from its members for a new site to build the community centre, this time complete with a banquet hall and basketball court.

“The PCCS is now facing a very bright future...More Filipinos are now attending PCCS events and the lost glory of the Filipino society will be finally redeemed.”

“I'm confident by the end of 2008 we will have a new centre.”