I would like to think that I learnt a lot of principles and ethics and good things from my teachers, and having gone to mostly Catholic schools enabled me to meet those who piously professed the faith and who were persons I believed I could trust and look up to. There are people I never forget and teachers I will always remember, and for sure there are “religious” leaders that I hold at a Biblical standard. Carlos Perdomo and his wife Michelle Perdomo are two such people. It is important to me to tell this story because I met both these persons in my formative years at St. John’s Sixth Form and I also interacted with them tremendously through Saint Joseph Church, Belize City, which I then attended.
There they were marriage counsellors and spiritual guides to many couples and young people. They had private sessions with so many and guided and counselled so many on the word of God per the Bible and preached virtues such as honesty, piety, faithfulness, honour, integrity, truthfulness, trustworthiness and the like. Many SJC students know what I am talking about and how these two pillars of society likewise influenced their lives.
I met Michelle, whom we referred to as Mrs. Perdomo, at art class in SJC, and she was a gem of a lady to deal with. May her soul rest in peace, as she has departed this world and her husband has since re-married. I later interacted a lot with her husband, Carlos Perdomo, through politics and due to my involvement in the United Democratic Party. I wanted to think of him as a person with a bit more integrity and that his Catholic teachings would not allow him in any way to taint his family’s name.
You see, to me it is important that I can still respect my teachers, my parents, my elders…. I come from that culture where we had role-models, and I must say Carlos Perdomo specifically was a person I held in high esteem along with other members of the Perdomo family. I know Carlos had children, and recall his daughter Sylvia, but cannot say I knew his son Joshua, but now I know of him because of the infamous $40,474.88 write-off and his dishonesty in signing a bond and not keeping his word.
Your word is your bond
Like many students, I still looked up to Carlos Perdomo, and I, in my logic, believe that the same values he and his wife taught me at school and church, they also taught their children. So in my naïve mind, I never thought of Carlos Perdomo as the type to yield to any wrongdoing in government, but rather I saw him as an honest servant of the people. And maybe it was foolish of me, but I ascribed the same high values to his children, because, after all, the parents must have had more influence on their children than they had on me.
When the news broke that one Joshua Perdomo was getting a write-off, I did not immediately think that it was this side of the Perdomo clan being spoken about. You see, the history of the Perdomo clan and politics and especially UDP politics is one of them being the type to call for justice, fight corruption and advocate for better governance. But now that I know more, I wonder if as Cabinet Secretary, he recused himself from that meeting; or was he the one who asked that his son’s debt be written off; or did he not see that the optics of this is a reflection on his family name; or if he honestly believed that Cabinet could not locate his son to pay the $1,000 a month as previously agreed per the write-off document? A whole lot of questions surrounding him come to mind, because as much as the write-off is about his son, by him being the Secretary to the Cabinet this already involves him. The fact that the beneficiary of the write-off is his son, Joshua Perdomo, reeks of nepotism and cronyism.
To add insult to injury, the content of the motion regarding this write-off is rather offensive in that it states: “AND WHEREAS at the expiration of study leave Mr. Perdomo failed to resume duties, and his service was terminated on September 1, 2011” — this speaks volumes about a Belizean who was entrusted with the sacred duty to benefit from paid study leave on his word and by the signing of a bond that he would come back and serve his country.
As is standard with these bonds, the said Joshua had to get a guarantor, who I am told is his sister, who is still living here. Thus the motion further reads: “AND WHEREAS, the Solicitor General advised that Mr. Perdomo would do monthly payments of $1,000.00 until payment was made in full but to date no payment has been made and efforts to locate him proved futile”. I put emphasis on those two points, since it appears that the Solicitor General had entered a payment agreement, which, again, like the bond, Joshua violated. Imagine, he gets a second chance and he violates it again, yet he gets rewarded with a write-off.
Not enough effort was made!
Then, the motion states that “efforts to locate him proved futile”. I find this amazing since, by an account of members of the church he attends, he was seen in Belize baptizing his newborn son. A search of his Facebook account reveals a pic of him, in a post on 4th December, 2017, posing with his wife and baby son. It’s sad that this young man, now a father, is okay with starting off his adult life on a lie. All his family here in Belize could have intervened and helped him save face. More so, his father, who holds a high and esteemed office in our government, should have reined him in and counseled him the way he counseled so many of us at church. Then his sister who signed as his guarantor should also make him know that she must continue living in Belize, and it’s her name on that document.
Due to professional obligations I could not attend the meeting of the Finance and Economic Development Committee Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., so I quickly wrote and sent in my objections. I was told that the meeting did not even last an hour, and that while they received my document, it was not considered, as the vote had already been taken. Nonetheless, I share my submission to the Committee with my readers, as it states as follows:
“It is rather a disgrace that since 2011 it is claimed that the study leave of Joshua Perdomo expired, yet the long arms of government has not been able to get ahold of him.
“It is even more disturbing that the bond for study leave of two and a quarter years is only to the value of – $39,156.48, as this amount in itself is rather very low and not even reflective of the monies paid out to him while on study leave for that period of time. More needs to be disclosed on how he obtained this study leave, from which government ministry, what portion of his salary was being paid to him and what was his salary at the time.
“This September 1, 2011 will make eight (8) years since he was due back from study leave, yet no proof has been shown of any attempts made to locate him. Even more incredible to this claim is the fact that he is the son of Cabinet Secretary, Carlos Perdomo, who holds said post to date.
“There are some things intrinsically wrong with this claim on a whole and I list them as follows:
1. The amount of bond is rather low for a 2-¼ years study leave period.
2. Every bond holder has a guarantor, which has not been disclosed or named – so who signed his bond as Guarantor?
3. When the bonded person is not located, the guarantor is contacted and asked to pay and if he/she does not pay he/she can be sued to obtain the money, thus the reason they are the guarantor.
4. Even if the bonded person or the guarantor are not in the jurisdiction, the Ministry of the Attorney General is empowered to start civil action against either or both and the Civil Procedure Rules at Part 7 allow for ‘Service of Court Process out of the Jurisdiction’, thus a default judgment can be entered against him and/or his bond-holder and a notice sent to all points of entry into this country and when he visits Belize he is summoned to attend court to answer how he will pay.
5. Research needs to be done to determine, what if any, assets he has in Belize, as the debts can be collected by the sale of his assets to effect recovery of our money. This means the Solicitor General will apply for a Writ of Execution.
6. It cannot be that he will never visit Belize. He still has ties here and possibly assets.
7. The legal cost incurred to seek him out and get payment can be included in his bill and any of the Crown Counsels at the Attorney General worth his/her salt knows the process, and thus it is either that they have not been contacted to do their work for the government, or if they have been and none acted and advised accordingly, they have failed in their duties. This is not knowledge not known to the Attorney General Ministry personnel and specifically the Solicitor General. They know how to pursue a recovery of monies for the government, it’s part of their duties on the job and must be carried out, unless it’s the political will that is lacking.
8. It is noted that the Solicitor General “advised that Mr. Perdomo would do monthly payments of $1,000.00 until payment was made in full, but to date, no payment has been made” – can it be disclosed if this is a payment plan agreement made, and if it is, this means there had to be contact with Joshua Perdomo to even effect this scheme.
9. Also do note that it states that all efforts to locate Joshua Perdomo “proved futile”, when at one click on Facebook he can be found, as he makes it no secret that he lives in New Orleans, USA. We have the means to locate him, if there is the willpower.
“Please note that if this is the precedent being set, then the government must be prepared to write off all delinquents, since it has painted itself as a helpless and incompetent government, with no will or resources to track those who breach a contract against them and who insults our country by benefiting from financial assistance to pursue a degree for their sheer personal development and with no return of such expertise for the benefit of our country. This is indeed a terrible precedent to set.
“If this is a stance of the government and this committee approves it, it is also effectively approving nepotism, and admitting there is very poor governance in our country and we have a failed legal system, incompetent Attorney General Ministry and poor monitoring at our entry points, as this said Joshua is bound to visit his father at some point. It is also a shame on Cabinet, since the father of this fellow is no other than the Cabinet Secretary, and if the populace sees that at this point the son of the CabSec can get away with such impropriety, then how can they expect any form of good governance?
If no one in the Attorney General’s ministry is willing to take on this case, I offer my services free of charge to the state to pursue this case on behalf of the Solicitor General and recover the monies on behalf of the government of Belize. Do let me know if my offer is taken up so that I can file the needed documents in time for the opening of the new Supreme Court session.”
Poor Governance
It is sad that we have had a history of poor governance in this country. I am sure there have been many such write-offs in the past that may not have come to the forefront. I am sure there are many screaming that the PUP did it as well, as if it justifies the UDP doing it. My take is very simply put in two points: 1. When the PUP did it, it was wrong – so it was wrong then and is wrong now; AND 2. I was an Opposition Senator to the PUP and fought against the corruption of the PUP and then in 2008, I worked to see them lose office because of the same types of things and more – so I can’t then have the UDP justify their wrongs, by recalling that the PUP did it too. For God’s sake, stop it!
When will the masses see and demand that what we want is good governance? When will people who hold office such as the Cabinet Secretary take note that their actions when in office are key because there are those of us who look to them as a bastion of hope for better? When will young people like Joshua and his guarantor understand that having access to power does not mean you abuse it? When will our leaders note that if they can legalize such breaking of the law at that level, they cannot then expect those at the lower level to act better? When will the abuse of the powers of the National Assembly to legalize that which is wrong, stop? Why do I feel that I advocate in vain when it seems we have settled into a culture of corruption, so much so that we do not see it, even when it is biting us in our proverbial “ass”?
Thank you, Patrick Faber, for speaking against this “Joshua write-off”, even though now you will take a flogging for not toeing the line of Cabinet and refusing to condone this one more disgraceful show of nepotism, cronyism and poor governance. We need our elected leaders to know that they need to stand up for right. This seemingly small issue is NOT small. It reflects that at all levels we practice cronyism, and poor governance!
Shame on all those who had a hand in this! Shame on you, Joshua Perdomo!