MESSAGE TO MANILA

Swallow pride, face the truth and join the Federation

The Open Letter by Sir Rainer J. Weber of Wilhelmsfeld-Heidelberg Chapter dated June 7, 2008 could not be written at a better time. While it basically only expresses reservations about the legitimacy of the recent election of the Board of Trustees aka the Supreme Council, it brings to fore yet once again not just the need to reform the inequitable electoral system of the Order of the Knights of Rizal but its greater need to completely overhaul itself.

The disastrous events (protracted leadership crisis) that began in 2002 and that spawned an unending string of unresolved anomalies, irregularities, abuses and numerous scandals continue to wreck havoc today in many of its chapters all over the world. Contrary to popular observation, Manila’s paralysis is not caused simply by a poor choice of leaders nor by a poor process, rather its inability to cope with the issues and deal with the problems is a clear manifestation that it is organizationally obsolete, flawed and retrogressive. It cannot, under its present arrangement whereby the Philippine corporation is lording it over its counterparts in other countries, move forward and be effective in the pursuit of its objectives. In fact, even the very objectives themselves require redefinition.

We therefore call upon the leaders in Manila to come to grips with reality and accept the truth. The reality that the fraternal brotherhood has grown globally and the truth that it was simply not designed nor intended by the founders to operate as an international organization. The time has come for the Order of the Knight s of Rizal to swallow its pride and do the following:

1) Recognize the autonomy of each country where there are existing chapters as a region of and by itself and;

2) Join the International Federation of Knights of Rizal representing the country/region of the Philippines as an equal with Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany and others.

Divesting oneself of colonies is an act that should no longer be needed as there are no such places anymore. However they do exist figuratively within the Knights of Rizal organization. It should therefore not be so difficult for Manila to let go of its impractical hold on those clamoring to be heard and counted. As the brotherhood nears its centennial anniversary on 2011, what better way to celebrate the milestone than by marking it with the makeover initiated this year by the International Federation of Knights of Rizal.