I believe Vitaliano

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."
--MAYA ANGELOU

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- If not for an invitation for me to participate in a blitz chess tournament in the Long Island on November 12, I would have forgotten that tournament host and organizer Vitaliano "Nonoy" V. Rafael, an industrial engineer and realtor, was outgoing board member of the fractious Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI).
PIDCI, umbrella organization of Filipino-American associations based on the East Coast, was the subject of my scathing articles after its tumultuous election on October 7 won by Antero "Ner" Martinez.
When they could not agree on who should be allowed and not allowed to vote in that election, tension erupted especially when membership chair Ronie Mataquel had been removed from the polling venue on orders of Comelec chair Raul Estrellado.

CANDIDATE

At this juncture, a losing candidate for the board (not Vitaliano) called 911. The police, naturally, arrived. And the rest is history.
In the organization's 27 years of existence, it was the first time that its election was interrupted by a 911 emergency call. Pathetic.
In my first article on October 11, 2017, I quoted an observer who lambasted the feuding officials for "acting like kids."
In a follow up article on October 12, 2017, I scored the act of calling the 911 for a simple case of mismanagement by poll organizers as it transformed the election "like a carnival of thugs."
I wanted to emphasize that if they weren't sure about the final list of voters, they shouldn't have proceeded with the election to avoid that embarrassing and scandalous incident.
Some PIDCI bigwigs reportedly felt slighted as they weren't used to being castigated in the press. If they behaved properly, the press would have nothing to report but their good behavior--and the election results.
The truth is, some of them really behaved like kids and their actuations were uncalled for and unprofessional.

ENTER

Back to Engr. Rafael. As soon as he saw me enter the tournament premesis, he acknowledged my presence and was very cordial and professional.
He did mention that they (meaning the PIDCI officials) monitored my write-ups and analyzed their contents.
He could not speak on behalf of his peers, but told me he never felt alluded to in my articles saying he understood why I wrote about that ugly episode; he stressed that the gist of my stories "was about only the 911 call although you weren't there."
I retorted that I am mandated to write only the truth and nothing but the truth; and that I believe him when he said he held no grudge against me for criticizing the PIDCI.

NOTE: I thank Engr. Nonoy Rafael and Atty. Gerry Albano for allowing me to participate in the 9-round double elimination blitz chess tournament even if I was the only player who did not have any title or rating in the Philippines and in the United States. As a result, I was able to play officially in a formal tournament against Grand Masters Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua, as well as FIDE Master Rico Salimbagat, United States Chess Federation (USCF) National Master Albano, and 2010 World Open Chess Championships Under1200 champion Mary Christine Joyce Dacayo-Paragua. Nonoy Rafael himself was the 1989 World Open Chess Championship (expert division) and 1988 New York Chess Open champion.