Petrelis Files

The long-troubled Filipino Task Force on AIDS will shut its doors at the end June because of insurmountable financial problems.

After reading the minutes of the March 22 meeting of the Joint Conference Committee of the S.F. Health Commission, which detail some of the fiscal troubles facing the Filipino agency, I called them and spoke with their executive director Efren Bose. (Source: SF DPH Committee Minutes.)

He said the task force is trying to find a lawyer to help with filing for bankruptcy and dealing with past payroll taxes that have not been paid. Bose said his group will stop functioning by the end of June and that he's in the process of trying to find other AIDS groups to take over their programs.

I'm not surprised this AIDS agency is going out of business, but what does concern me is that the AIDS Office of the health department, which was supposed to be providing oversight and preventing such financial problems, is again proving lax when keeping tabs on community based groups receiving government funds.

I'm not sure if the Filipino Task Force on AIDS was receiving federal money in addition to city funds, but I suspect if the San Francisco media get around to reporting on this group going out of business, we'll learn which government agencies gave it grant money.

Just how deep in financial trouble is the task force? Well, the opening page on their web site, after a two-paragraph mission statement, asks for funds. Donations can be made by check, credit card, or, by sending them cash. That's right, an AIDS agency is asking donors to mail cash through the US postal service! (Source: FTFA site.)

So what about some recent AIDS stats for Filipinos in San Francisco?

The latest quarterly surveillance report for full-blown AIDS cases shows that for all Asian Pacific Islander cases, including Filipinos, the stats are down.

In 2001 there were 32 API cases, 29 in 2002, then 28 in 2003, 10 cases in 2004 and for the first quarter of 2005, only one case was reported. (Source: SF DPH.)

Declining numbers like that may be due to the past work of the soon-to-be defunct Filipino Task Force on AIDS.

Finally, questions must be raised about why and how the S.F. health department allowed the situation at this group to reach the point where it has to close up shop.

We need oversight of those at the health department who are supposed to be doing ove