There is much fear and speculation bouncing off the walls of our community. Some brought about by the horrid succession of fire incidents, some remnants of passed unresolved misdeeds which resurfaced in reaction to the GGS authorities’ failure to address them.
Additional Security Guards
It is not my intention to rid of both, for I cannot end the speculation, but I hope to allay your fears. Somehow. As you might have already noticed, there are additional security guards roaming around the compound. It is my hope that the presence of additional nine guards within the compound help you sleep better at night.
If not, let me know how else I can make it better. I will try. Email me.
Fire Incidents
The Fire Department of Quezon City headed by Sgt. Alma Abacain paid GGS a visit last Monday. It is her initial findings, along with her investigators that the recent fire was not an accident. I will not deny this, for she and everyone else could very easily come up with an intelligent guess as to how such an incident had come to be. However, neither will I encourage it. No one or nothing is certain until it is made so by scientific facts and evidence. And so, until then, I implore you all to wait for the investigation to take its course.
Yes, there is an ongoing investigation. Any building that has suffered any repetitive life-threatening incidents such as ours is immediately marked in the local government unit’s radar. Ours has suffered six fire incidents since March 2011.
Therefore, it is my recommendation that whoever has information, other than what appears to be on the surface, I expect you to come forward and help the community sleep better at night.
Additional Security Guards
It costs us roughly a quarter of a million (TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS) to keep these additional guards. At present, it is my regret to inform you that we cannot afford to keep them. Still, they have to stay; at least for the time being, until we have figured out among ourselves the next course of action, one that will satisfy our sense of peace and well-being as well our financial realities.
Special Assessment
I have to say again that there is a need to request more funding from the lot of you, which the GGS By-Laws refer to as ‘Special Assessment.’ Kindly refer to your copies for more detailed explanation.-ed. In a nutshell, it means to request one-time payment for repairs or improvements, which were not allocated for in the original budget.
While I can understand how one, if not all of you, will ask, ‘how come x-project was not part of the budget when y-project was?’ There is not one answer to that that will suffice; therefore, I will refrain to address this question again after this letter.
Yes, the gutters were forgotten, which will cost us at least ONE MILLION PESOS (P1,000,00) And yes, it should been in the budget for even logic predicted their wear and tear, and that the damages were glaringly visible as of last year’s simple visual assessment.
Yes, the waterproofing was seemingly forgotten, cost of which is still being determined. And yes, this should have been among the regular maintenance services.
The same goes for all other observations that should have been part of the regular maintenance service.
GGS Complaints
If I were the publicist of the Administration, I would lump them all to collection problems, which means budgetary constraints. This is true, and verifiable to the last centavo, after all.
If I were the publicist of the GGS Administration, I would also cite the constant complaints pertaining to the monthly dues and its annual increase that disables the decision makers to come up with the proper increase that could inevitably solve the repair and maintenance problems. The result is a very careful computation for the increase so that the complaints are not as roaring and violent - sadly, and as obvious as the flapping gutters of C6 - to the detriment of the entire GGS Community.
But I am not the GGS Administration publicist. I am a resident who was given the opportunity to speak in behalf of Cluster Five, help make policies and decisions that will serve best not only my Cluster but the other eight as well.
I tell you it is not an easy job, or one that is financially beneficial, if I may say so. The point is, I do it because I am one of you. I do it because I want you to do it eventually. I do it because I paid good money for my home. I do it for the others who could not…
It has come to the end of the doing…
This is not the job for the Lone Ranger.
In my four (4) months as Member of the Board, there have only been two to four resolutions. None of those had to do with alleviating the fear and speculation. I do not recall them because I have yet to receive the official minutes.
However, one of which is the creation of The Board of Governors. These are three-people-per-cluster residents will vote among themselves. They can take charge of their own cluster – fund, outfit it, and do whatever legal possibilities in the name of improvement. When they finally come into existence, we might not need the services of the Administration anymore.
Administration Fees
The Administration Fee of First Oceanic Management, Incorporate costs us TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY PESOS (P250,560) every month.
It’s nearly the same cost as the service fee of the temporary 'augmentation security guards' who help us sleep better at night. Though I cannot say the same about the GGS Administration.
I am sure they are doing the best they can. In any job, one is always expected to do one's best. However, because there is a large sum involved drained from a non-profit organization such as ours, the Greenhills Garden Square Condominium Association, Incorporated (GGSCAI), the best, no matter how optimum might no longer be enough to keep them.
It happens. Downsizing. It happens.
Electric Expense
There is also the matter of our exorbitant electric bill which runs at least HALF A MILLION pesos every month. It averages about SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY TWO AND ONE HUNDRED FIVE PESOS monthly. See 2011 Budget.-ed
This is the electricity for all the common areas, such as the hallways, the roadside, the clubhouse, even the mezzanine parking and the parking building, etc... If there is one electrical engineer living within our compound, please come forward, and provide me a professional opinion that will allay my own fears whether there exists or not a mall nearby which we subsidize.
Others
There are also other expenses, which in your intelligent opinions might deserve professional looking into, but I ask you to look into your own clusters first. I need your help fix your clusters.
My cluster will have security cameras, if we need to pay for it, we will, on our own. We will want for our own security people and intercom service, and we can do this on our own. Can you say the same for yours?
I know it seems hard work. This, what I do. It is not an illusion. It is hard work, but only for now. Only temporarily.
When a new routine, a better exercise of our daily lives, has been installed, the hard work will ease. It always does. Remember, while the hardship might be brain-wrecking pun intended –ed and emotionally draining, believe that it is much harder to kill bad habits. And there have been very bad habits. Very bad habits indeed.
Board of Governors
With the governors, we can possible move for the decrease in administration personnel, reduce similar expenses, and create different sub-organizations from a youth to toddlers, all the way to adult, which could be in charge of recreational or educational activities within the compound.
Possibilities are endless. There has to be a start.
Help me get our money’s worth. All two million-pesos-plus of it!
It is the silence of the majority that lets minor evils triumph. I cannot just believe we as a community will easily and readily throw away our investments as though a million to two and a half is but a lose change.
Please do something. Clear trash, pay your dues, negotiate and reconcile your issues. Do something. We're all in this together. Already.
River Rosal
Board of Trustee, Cluster 5
Greenhills Garden Square
pasig_river@yahoo.com 
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