Apidos
Fund Drive Background and Timeline Summary
Sponsored
by The Igorot Quarterly
Sometime in December 1998, Vic Mesa broadcast in BIBAKNETS an appeal for financial support of Avelino Apidos, an Itogon Igorot, who was incarcerated in Saudi Arabia for an alleged capital crime that he committed against a Saudi national. His appeal alluded to the possibility that Apidos might be beheaded if a ransom of 75,000 Saudi Riyals, the equivalent of approximately 750,000 pesos, was not paid to the victim’s family. The appeal also cited efforts of school children of Suyoc elementary School raising funds by sacrificing their lunches for the benefit of Apidos. Mesa’s appeal was re-broadcasted by Harry Basingat, followed by an appeal from Benguet Governor Raul Molintas. All this excited and enraged the Igorot community overseas, which nominated Rex Botengan, then editor of the Igorot Quarterly, to spearhead an Apidos Fund Campaign.
Botengan accepted the nomination and made several exchanges with Governor Molintas and his executive assistants for details of the Apidos case. Botengan then started his appeal in late January of 1999, primarily through the Bibaknets, an e-mail discussion group. He made it understood that the Igorot Quarterly shall be the sponsor of the fund campaign, so donors can write their checks to The Igorot Quarterly to take advantage of the IQ’s tax deductible status. Edwin Abeya helped in the appeal by re-broadcasting the Apidos campaign to his other Filipino friends in the East Coast.
The Fund Campaign spanned from late January to the end of March 1999, but since other contributions were sent after March, it was extended until June 30, 1999. Bibaknets was used as the main medium for communications. Periodic updates of the status of the Apidos Fund Drive, which included a list of contributors and the amount of donations, were broadcast in bibaknets. Contributions from individuals, organizations, businesses, anonymous donors, and even "pass the hat" collections poured in. Milestones of the campaign, such as reaching the $3,000.00, the $4,000.00, and the $5,000.00 marks, were also broadcast. To thank those that have sent their donations and to encourage more donors, the list of contributors and their donations were repeatedly broadcast. By the end of March, 1999, donations totaling $5,705.56 was collected for Apidos and held in trust by the IQ. A full report of these funds was published through individual e-mails, bibaknets, snail mail, and in a write-up on page 21 of the 1st Quarter 1999 issue of the IQ.
On April 16, 1999, donations totaling $5,705.56 (peso conversion: 213,958.50 pesos) was remitted by way of PNB wire transfer for the credit of the Avelino Apidos Account established by Governor Molintas (#WC67732: Dollar Account #6135560691). A remittance fee of $30.00 was paid, in cash, by Rex Botengan. On April 21, 1999, Governor Molintas acknowledged receipt of the funds through an e-mail to Rex Botengan. On April 22, 1999, Rex Botengan broadcasted a copy of this acknowledgment through Bibaknets.
Although the Apidos Fund Raising period ended in March 1999, donations for Apidos kept coming to the Igorot Quarterly. Rex Botengan continued to inquire about the status of Avelino Apidos and the status of the funds remitted to Governor Molintas. In June and July of 1999, Botengan sent several e-mail messages to Governor Molintas, asking him for updates and also informing him that the IQ was still receiving more donations. By July 31, 1999, the Avelino Apidos Fund Raising Drive officially ended. Additional donations totaling $1,112.00 was collected by the IQ, for a grand total of $6,817.56.
On August 3, 1999, before the additional collections could be remitted to the Philippines, Molintas wrote to Rex Botengan informing him that the Apidos Fund was no longer needed. Apparently, a group of Filipino Muslim Overseas Workers and Apidos’ employer, have partially paid an amount towards the ransom money. The Saudi Government assumed the balance needed for the release of Apidos. In the Molintas e-mail to Rex Botengan, he was thinking of the possibility of requesting that the donors redirect their donations to help “other OCW’s similarly situated.”
Upon receipt of the e-mail from Molintas, Rex Botengan and the IQ, through phone calls, e-mails, snail mails, bibaknets, etc., began informing donors and other interested parties the good news of the release of Apidos. In these communications, donors were also asked how they wanted their donations handled. There were literally hundreds of e-mail communications going back and forth in bibaknets. Many suggestions were given as to how the funds should be disbursed. These suggestions included donating the funds to IGO, the IQ, Benguet General Hospital, BIBAK youth, Apidos, Governor Molintas, and others. Ultimately, however, it was the decision of the donors themselves as to what to do with their donations.
After hearing that Apidos has been released and that the money collected was no longer needed, many donors contacted Rex Botengan to instruct him on what to do with their individual donations. These requests came in the form of snail mail, e-mail, telephone conversations, and personal contacts.
Through letters, emails, telephone, and by personal contacts, the advisory on what to do with donors’ funds were broadcast from August 1999, with a cut off date of December 31, 2000. By the end of 1999, of the $6,817.56 collected by the IQ, $2,041.00 was re-donated to IGO (per donors' requests), $1,625.00 was returned to individuals, organizations, and businesses (per their requests), $1,126.59 was retained by Governor Molintas (per donors' requests), and a remaining balance of $2,024.97 is being held, in trust, by the Igorot Quarterly. The Apidos Fundraising, and campaign to return or redirect the donations collected, was officially closed.
On March 20, 2001, Governor Molintas issued “An Open Letter To The Apidos Donors” informing all concerned of the disposition of the funds that was that he received from the Igorot Quarterly. In the letter, Molintas also issued the following statement: “Inquiries on the usage of the bulk of the Apidos Fund collected abroad may then be directed to the Igorot Quarterly, through Rex Botengan. While inquiries on the local collection would be properly directed to this office.”
On March 23, 2001, Rex Botengan of the Igorot Quarterly issued a final notice through bibaknets. This notice included background information, as well as “The Apidos Fund Summary Report.”
It is now September 16, 2003. Currently, the IQ is holding, in trust, an amount of $2,024.97. Since December of 2000, the IQ has not received any more requests. Some have suggested that the IQ go ahead and use these funds to reimburse Rex for his expenses incurred to spearhead and run this fundraiser. (Although Rex Botengan has not submitted an expense report, nor has he asked to be reimbursed, he has incurred hundreds of dollars in expenses and spent hours and hours of his personal time to spearhead this fundraiser.) Others have suggested to donate this amount to IGO or other non-profit organizations. On advise from counsel and to be on the safe side, however, the IQ will hold these funds for a period of five years (or until the end of 2005), at which time the remaining funds could be used by the IQ or donated to a non-profit organization similar to The IQ.
Although Rex Botengan has expended a lot of time and energy to return or comply with the requests of the donors, many have elected not to respond. Also, some of the donations were given anonymously. With that said, however, if any Apidos Fund donor has not yet informed the Igorot Quarterly and still wants his or her donation back, please contact Tim Botengan (IQ treasurer) at iq@igorotglobal.org. Upon verification, his or her donation will be returned.
Apidos
Fund Drive
Report of Funds Collected and Disbursed