Please spare KoR from dirty politics

FOR the longest time, the Order of the Knights of Rizal has been expounding on patriotism and ideals of the heroes to whom we owe the Philippine democracy.

Established in 1911, KoR which now has over 25,000 members forming part of a little less than 200 local and international chapters, was granted a legislative charter by President Elpidio Quirino as a non-sectarian, non-partisan, civic, patriotic, and cultural organization under Republic Act 646 on June 14, 1951.

It has been doing great until dirty politics embarking on greed and thirst for power rocked one of the few organizations genuinely espousing nationalism among modern-day Filipinos.

Sometime in May, a demolition expert whom I’d rather refer to as “Fake Cavalier” farmed out disinformation in an apparent effort to advance an ambition, which is to become KoR’s Supreme Commander.

The material which contained lies primarily designed to disrupt order in the prestigious organization hinted at a financial mess allegedly perpetrated by the previous KoR main man Gerardo Calderon.

But looking into allegations and that of the official financial records made the Fake Cavalier look stupid. For all we know, he must have overlooked the facts or maybe just another paid hack behind a long list of fake news Why did I say so? The Fake Cavalier’s claim came from his personal observation.

Enough of suspense… he is no other than Danilo Peralta who has long been eyeing the top KoR position. I did some checks and from what I gathered, KoR in December 2021 only had P96,506.75 balance in its coffers, for which the KoR found the need to make a meticulous review on KoR’s finances and how funds were spent.

As expected, there were unauthorized transfers to personal accounts amounting to P1,502,100. Subsequently, cases were filed against former KoR administrative officers involved in the mess. When Calderon took over in 2022 as Supreme Commander of the KoR, the organization was almost out of funds. But he did not only manage to make both ends meet, he also found ways to regenerate KoR’s financial stability.

In fact, KoR had a whopping P3.06 million bank account balance when he stepped down from his post. Under his stewardship, Calderon boasts of a long-list of programs and projects aligned to the KoR’s mission and vision.

I find it rather disturbing that a faction from within the KoR has been wreaking havoc to the detriment of the prestigious organization. The lies peddled by Mr. Peralta speaks clearly of who he is –as fake as the accusation he hurled while trying to depict himself as a crusader which he never was – and will never be.