THE matron-dominated Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines is in danger of disintegrating after nine out of the 15 board members resigned last week over unresolved financial and personal disagreements.

According to e-mails circulating among the FCCP members, those who have left in a huff include the president, Gerry Contreras, along with board members Mars Lambino (vice president), Jaime Laya, Helen Ong, Mimi Valerio, Marietha Holmgren, Cristina Caedo, Raul Sunico, and Joey Soriano.

The mass resignations left only Minerva Tanseco, Elizabeth Cristobal, Boysie Villavicencio, Letty Hahn and Martin Lopez remaining on the high-society fund-raising board.

According to an FCCP member who asked not to be identified, the holdover members of the FCCP board led by Tanseco had been pushing the association to seek the return of P8.6 million it had donated to its disbursing affiliate, the Friends for the Development of Arts and Culture Foundation.

Composed of ex-FCCP presidents, the foundation in turn donated the P8.6 million to the St. Scholastica?s College and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with the two institutions sharing the donation equally.

According to the grapevine, the Tanseco bloc was upset that the foundation?effectively run by ex-FCCP presidents Leticia Syquia, Olga Martel, Tessie Luz, and Imelda Cojuangco?had unilaterally donated the money without as much as a by-your-leave from the FCCP membership.

The rift had been festering since May 2008, when the combined membership of the FCCP and the foundation, known by its shorthand FDAC, voted 46-8 in favor of rescinding the twin donation and recovering the funds.

Apparently, there had not only been a nasty signature campaign but also a boycott of the annual fund-raising ball that already led to the latter being re-scheduled.

Heard through the grapevine

Malaya, which started as an opposition ?mosquito press? during the twilight years of the Marcos strongman rule, will undergo yet another iteration today when it switches to a business paper.

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