8 September 2022, from Gems:

DEAR FELLOW LOT OWNERS:

Last week on 27 August the AFPOVAI board passed its 2022-23 IRR on the conduct of election of the Directors and Officers of AFPOVAI Board and the respective Phase Chapters.

IT WAS WORTHY TO NOTE THAT OUR PHASE CHAPTER HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED AS A SPECIAL CASE AND THUS ALLOWED TO HOLD OUR OWN ELECTIONS THROUGH ELECTRONIC VOTING.

Section 2b of Article III of the said IRR states that, “MIGS from Phases 6,7 & 8, due to peculiarity of their situation being resident of different places and not residing in AFPOVAI, may opt to avail of electronic voting relative to their participation in the October 1, 2022 Main Board Election and General Assembly at PN(M) Officer Club, provided, that their ELECOM shall establish an IRR that will be in accordance with the duly approved AFPOVAI IRR Governing the 2022-23 BOD Election and other prevailing laws particularly the Magna Carta for Homeowners Association and Department Circular 2020-003 series 2020 (November 20,2020) Subject: Authorizing and Providing Guidelines for the use of Alternative Mode of Conducting Meetings and Voting for Homeowners Associations Under Extraordinary Circumstances.”

More reassuringly, a final provision reinforces our recourse to electronic voting. Entitled, “Non-Disenfranchisement of Members,” the said provision emphasizes that, “The Association may adopt any combination of the above alternative mode of conducting meetings and voting under extraordinary circumstances for the purpose of ensuring maximum participation of members, provided that clear procedures, mechanics and guidelines thereof shall be fully disseminated to the members, and no member is prevented from participating by reason of lack of access to any of the platforms or electronic means adopted. The Board may set up solutions such as prescribing a specific mode for certain members and sharing of resources by not more than ten (10) members in a single location or venue, subject to strict compliance with prevailing government – mandated health protocols or measures as may be applicable under the circumstances.”

So finally, our representations through Pres Art, meetings with him, posted comments here in our viber community, and due diligence and prudence from the Mother Board had positively led to this development and averted a sure failure of our Phase 678 Chapter elections even before we had cast our votes.

NOW THAT THE MOTHER BOARD HAS LISTENED, IT IS IMPERATIVE ON OUR PART TO FULFILL OUR OBLIGATION AS A CHAPTER ORGANIZATION.

WE HAVE TO DO THINGS RIGHT by: 1) first creating our Chapter ELECOM, then 2) crafting and passing our own IRR appropriate to our situation, and 3) finally holding our special elections before the AFPOVAI General Elections on 01 October 2022. We are definitely pressed for time (some might say it is too short), but we cannot complain.

The good thing is that we already anticipated the first requirement through a resolution passed several weeks back, creating the COMENO for our Chapter. We only need to revise some parts and put flesh to it by properly designating the ELECOM officers for consistency with the 27 Aug IRR.

Likewise, we have anticipated the second requirement by developing our Chapter IRR, organized precisely around the conduct of electronic voting. In fact, our zoom account can handle 500 participants for the purpose.

Similarly, we have begun planning for the third requirement by selecting some dates for our General Assembly and elections. We were looking at the 23rd or 24th of September. The 24th, a Saturday, seemed to be the most practical, but it happens to be the date of the Regular Meeting of the AFPOVAI Board, where we shall be sourcing staff assistance for our e-elections.
The 23rd of September did not appeal to the Mother Board since they would be in the thick of preparations for the next day. In fact, they had only one date to offer us: the 17th of September. They committed support us in this regard.