DAMMAM: The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah are urged to control and check the proliferation of the so-called Guardian Brotherhood Inc. (GBI) organizations in the Kingdom to make sure they are doing their sworn task of serving the Filipino community and supporting distressed Filipino workers. A GBI is an organization of former military officers and men from the various services of the armed forces of the Philippines who are now deployed as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here in Saudi Arabia. There are now over 40 GBI organizations in cities across the Kingdom, and their number is increasing. “Our foreign missions – the Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah – must regulate the founding of GBIs and monitor the activities of the already existing groups to ensure legitimacy in their objectives,” said Marcelo “Virgo” Bernardo, who claims to have founded the first GBI group to be established in the Kingdom in Jeddah, along with Ricardo “Bong” Yapbuan Jr. as co-founder. According to Bernardo, Philippine embassy and consulate officials must call for a meeting of all the founders and leaders of GBIs in Saudi Arabia to discuss what exactly should be the role of GBIs in the Kingdom and how they could support the Filipino community and further adhere to the laws and regulations of the Kingdom. Bernardo said his GBI groups in Jeddah and in Taif have about 65 members. In addition, his GBI organization has provincial affiliates in Riyadh, Dammam, Al-Khobar, Al-Ahsa, and Jubail. “We guardians must follow the same objectives upon which the GBI organization had been founded because those goals have been tested in times of war and peace,” Bernardo told the Saudi Gazette. “As guardians we must uphold the standards of our slogan -'Service Through Strong Brotherhood',” he said. GBI president Rodolfo “Ode” Catampatan said that many of the recently organized local GBIs need to be controlled, and that some with members exceeding 100 are sacrificing the quality of their membership. “The heads of the national GBI organizations in the Philippines, like our national chairman Ricardo “Libra” Go and Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc. (PGBI) chairman Gringo Honasan, should discuss how to manage and control overseas GBI organizations,” Catampatan said. Explaining the history and legitimacy of GBI, Dannymar “Lonewolf” Tuvilla, GBI spokesperson, said GBI is the core founder of the name Guardians th at was registered at the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on December 10, 1984. Tuvilla said today's Guardians lived by their motto, “We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose; we will stand together until the end”. According to Bernardo, the proliferation of GBI factions is no longer a healthy sign because the new emerging factions have their own objectives not in line with the Guardians' slogan and motto. A new faction called the Royal Guardians is now the largest group, whose membership is widely composed of Filipino drivers and other rank-and-file workers, he said. Bernardo said his GBI group is taking the initial step of what he called “giving legitimacy to the name guardians” by convening soon a general meeting of all its members from Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province.
