A DISGRUNTLED member of the Cebu CFI (Court of First Instance) Community Cooperative filed an injunction case against the group’s board of directors (BOD) on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at the Regional Trial Court.
Byron Garcia, with five other former members of the cooperative, filed the injunction to prevent the directors from entering their offices for transactions.
Byron Garcia is the brother of former Cebu governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (third district, Cebu Province) and the son of the late judge Esperanza Garcia, who founded the CFI cooperative in July 1970. Former judge Esperanza was the wife of former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia.
Byron told Superbalita Cebu that in September this year, he was unjustly booted out as a member of the cooperative.
He said it is only right that the members of the BOD be prevented from entering their office since they still have the right to file an appeal during the general assembly in March 2019.
“Our issue is ni-file mi og appeal sa general assembly nga gi-course through namo sa Cooperative Development Authority. Gi-recognize man sa CDA. Gipadad-an man gani og suwat nga naa nay appeal diri, gipadala na sa general assembly, unya ila (BOD) man gipugngan ba ang among right to appeal (Our issue is that we already filed an appeal to the general assembly, which we coursed through the Cooperative Development Authority, which recognized it. In fact, the CDA already sent a letter to the general assembly about the appeal, but the BOD is trying to block our right to appeal),” said Byron.
In December 2015, the cooperative already had 85,563 members who were not only government workers, but also small business owners.
The CFI is one of the biggest cooperatives in the country. It has assets of P11.5 billion.
In September this year, Byron Garcia’s brother, lawyer Winston Garcia, assumed the chairmanship of the cooperative after his father Pablo Garcia resigned. (from Fe Marie Dumaboc of SuperBalita Cebu)