APPEAL
His Excellency the Chief of Executive Macau Special Administrative Region
Macau
His Excellency the Chair of Macau Legislative Assembly
His Excellency the Chair of Macau Legislative Assembly
Legislators of Macau Legislative Assembly
Excellencies,
The earlier months of the Macau Administrative Region existence were
staggered due to the Jorge Álvares Foundation’s event, a regretful
incident that, nevertheless, did not affect the relations and the
interchange between Portugal and Macau/China.
Excellencies, firstly, we would like to congratulate the Macau Chief
Executive’s decision of appointing an enquiry team, whose final
conclusions about the methods for financing such foundation are doubtless,
as far as the illegality and nullity of the act, after becoming public by
the media in Portugal and Macau.
At this very moment, we consider the Portuguese and Chinese both in
Portugal and Macau are well informed about the issue. In Macau, the fusion
of both local Foundations is expected with great interest. It is hoped
that it will give place to a transparent institution with well-defined
objectives aiming to serve the real interests of the RAEM’s communities.
Nevertheless, it is with great surprise and revolt that we listened to the
clarifications and statements without any kind of impunity of Mr. Jorge
Rangel, president of the Macau International Institute, former Under
Secretary for Education and Culture Affairs under Mr. Rocha Vieira’s
administration and who is Vieira’s political ally. As you may be aware,
the above mentioned person, today an itinerant resident, besides being the
Jorge Álvares Foundation’s spokesman, has launched a campaign to
support such institution. He has been using all means and making all sorts
of statements, showing such behaviour as he was solely and exclusively
under the former governor’s dependence as before.
When he answered to the inquiry ordered by you on the Foundation Jorge Álvares,
he was the only curator at the Foundation for the Development and
Cooperation of Macau who defended the defenceless- the money transference
to Portugal – because he was also involved as curator in his second
foundation, among others.
But, his career is an example of irregularities, if one wishes to avoid
using other shameful expressions, but perhaps more adequate. A few months
before the Macau handover, when he still worked at Vieira’s
administration and was in charge of the Office for the Handover Ceremony,
he announced in an interview to Radio Macau, that he created the Macau
International Institute. He also unveiled that his foundation had money at
a great scale enough to establish co-operation agreements with the Macau
Education Department and the Macau Public Service Department. Such
agreements looked quite incredible and rather incongruent, because, at the
time, he was the highest person in charge of both departments. He went on
detail, stating that his Institute would give training courses after the
handover.
Under
the Macau Special Administrative Region’s rule, we were informed,
through a local Portuguese newspaper, that Mr. Rangel, responsible for the
Office of the Handover Ceremony, has authorised that the referred office
would give a great amount of money to the magazine “Focus” to be
published by the Macau International Institute. At that time, the chair of
the referred institute was his chief of office as Under Secretary, Mr.
Amaral. After the handover, it is not necessary to add that Mr Rangel
replaced Mr. Amaral as Chair of the Macau’s International Institute.
When
these facts were unveiled, Mr. Rangel not only confirmed them as saying
they were completely normal and he started giving multiple interviews. On
the radio, among other inconceivable statements, he said Macau should
continue to be followed by highest personalities from Portugal, such the
Portuguese army and he menaced those who criticised his methods, mainly,
saying openly that those persons should be identified, then isolated or
expelled from Macau.
By
then, many Portuguese recalled the times when he had secrets files with
the names of those public servants he disliked and ordered his
collaborators to fill in them with personal details in order to persecute
and not renew their contracts.
But
worse that his verbal menaces, has been his letters and interviews to the
media both in Macau and Portugal, mainly to the daily “Público” from
Portugal, where he insults the Portuguese RAEM’s media considering then
parochial.
In
addition, in Macau, recently, in his last long interview to the Portuguese
TV channel, he criticised the conclusions of the inquiry that Your
Excellency ordered considering it a very bad inquiry. But, at the same
time, he boasted to have excellent relations with the Macau Chief
Executive with whom he implied having regular contacts and his support.
Again,
by invoking the fact of being the descendent from a family with four
generations in Macau, as the dynasties should have the political power in
China or Portugal, Mr. Rangel considers himself as the spokesman for the
entire Macanese community whose members don’t recognise him as such. He
also launched the idea of a federation of all Portuguese/ Macanese
foundations by implying that he might be the leader.
Excellencies, concerning Mr. Vieira’s acts, and as The Chief Executive
stated, only the President of Portugal might and could act, because he
depended upon on him. But, as far as Mr. Rangel is concerned, the
situation is completely different. He is a Macau resident, he is the
founder and the chair of an institute with its headquarters and assets in
Macau, and the Office he was in charge of has ended or it will end after
the handover.
Therefore,
we congratulate you for the recent inquiry on the way the Macau
International Institute was allocated funds (as requested by Mr. Ng. Kwuok
Cheong) and what are its connections to the foundations that are at the
stage of being fused. But we consider that it is not enough to reveal the
results on the inquiry: Mr. Rangel should be accountable for his acts.
This appeal does not intend to be any kind of persecution. It must be
understood as an appeal from Macau residents who, at a particular moment,
wish those methods of financement of the Macau cultural institutions, in
particular, the Macau International Institute, be analysed and clarified
once for all.
It seems that in a State of Law, a person who had a public position could
not, without any shame and respect for legality, to use public money to
finance his own private institution and even becomes annoyed when
questioned about that. He even boasts of having used public money to
finance his own institution as a normal procedure and acceptable. His
institutions, whose projects are vague, are definitely not for the Macau
culture. It only serves his own ambitious and particular plans. Mr Rangel
may finance his Institute with his own money or with his huge perks and
retirement pension, which he received for being the dearest collaborator
of Mr. Vieira. And if does not want to obey the law in force in Macau, he
should devote exclusively to Jorge Álvares Foundation and install himself
in Portugal for good, where, by the way, he spends most of his time, in
meetings as curator of Jorge Alvares Foundation. In fact, it was in his
capacity as curator that he collaborated in a recent decision of not
returning the money illegally transferred from Macau. We also appeal that
any protocols signed by the Macau International Institute with Education,
Culture and Public Service sectors or other sectors should become public
or cancelled.
Yours faithfully,
