Defending the Truth Has Its Downside

Volume 1, Issue No. 22

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . 

Our latest as of Monday, December 30, 2019 

~  In this seething altercation between a businesswoman and the supposed exemplars of virtue in the community, the journalist reporting the truth, and on the side of truth, has become collateral damage. I awoke to find myself in that situation. Having objected to gossip and stood by my decision to refuse reporting unvetted stories, which are essentially fake news, I incurred the ire of my principal. In no time, I was let go.

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A CASE OF UPHOLDING THE TRUTH VS. REPRESSING IT 

Collateral Damage in News Reporting

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect". - Robert Hatch

TORONTO - The email exchanges were about the location of the life-size monument of Philippine hero Jose Rizal that media colleague and artist Mogi Mogado had sculpted, and which the suburban city of Markham had graciously erected six months ago in one of its parks. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOR7AcJ-ASk).

The area is about 34.5-kilometers from my place, the distance a good 23 minutes away northeast by car. By public transport (bus, subway train, and bus again), it would take about two hours maximum. I drive but I have no car, so I worried about getting there in time for the inauguration on Sunday, June 9, 2019.  (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak87ArSXQPk).

From that moment, the discussion among people in the loop veered to something unrelated. A gossip was being slipped in by Teresita Cusipag, publisher and editor of Balita, who at that time was still my boss as I was a reporter and columnist there with the hollow title of associate editor.

In her usual unpunctuated style that calls into question her editorship, she wrote, and I quote verbatim: "I dont know about Romy but am sure he knows where it is now. Nasa territory yan ni Lily Scammer."

Why she had to add that second sentence mentioning a "Lily Scammer" was beyond belief. First, it was irrelevant; second, it's out of context; third, it was malicious; and fourth, it was disrespectful.

The allusion, to say the least, was as wicked as it was loaded with innuendoes. Her personal animus was getting the better of her at my expense.

I told myself that I would not be baited by her open hostility into acquiescing and blindly agree to know whoever was "Lily Scammer", and thus expose myself to a lawsuit. How certain was Ms. Cusipag that I knew the site of Rizal's monument in relation to her so-called Lily Scammer's territory?

Clearly, she was spreading her toxic fumes, and propagating a lie that, if true, was highly personal. Besides, it's none of her business what I do period. At its core, she was rumor-mongering. And it was not the first time either.

I didn't like what was being conveyed and bluntly told her why a "Lily Scammer" had to be drawn into the picture. Even an idiot would see how she was building a connection.

As early as April 2019, Ms. Cusipag was already referencing Lily Hammer as "Lily Scammer" as she tried to defend the masturbated article of her "guest writer", the copycat Edwin Mercurio, who actually lifted it from a press release by Migrante Ontario. 

My suggestion that it be trashed fell on deaf ears. An editor in his right mind would not sanction such practice of picking up a story from another and passing it as his. It's plain and simple plagiarism. It's a disservice to the practice of journalism and should never be tolerated.

No court has ever convicted Ms. Hammer of anything to warrant being labeled as a "scammer" as what Ms. Cusipag repeatedly did. Lily, who also goes by her maiden name Liwayway Miranda, is owner and CEO of A&L Hammer Workforce Management, the company that carried her and her husband's initials, 

In fact, the Superior Court of Ontario recently threw out all charges of human trafficking and misrepresentation lodged by Crown prosecutors on the basis of false testimonies of six runaway mushroom pickers she had brought to Canada from the Philippines. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

My protest against Ms. Cusipag's unfair labeling had heightened our disagreement and led to a firestorm of endless back and forth. I was upholding the truth and she was repressing it. 

She was catering to the copycat's and condoning his act. She knew Mercurio's article was not his but gave him a byline just the same. Said she, and I quote: "IT (sic) was taken from Migrante okay".

Right now, I don't know what to make of this vow published in August 2016 on the front page and I quote: "Balita will continue to publish the truth nothing but the truth! There is no price tag for integrity, principle and fairness. We vow to fight for those beliefs and defend them till the day we die!"

For those who don't know, the declaration appears impressive and highly-principled. In reality, however, they're catchy sound bites - empty, worthless promises, if I might say candidly.

As I write this article I am at a loss as to what has driven Ms. Cusipag to wage the kind of hostility she has against Ms. Miranda. But there's some indication that her mind was being poisoned by people or trolls she's been interacting with on Facebook, which I believe was her main source of news, gossips, pictures and news tips.

As other people in our loop had witnessed, I vehemently objected to the allusion that Ms. Cusipag was portraying in her statement, thus: "I dont know about Romy but am sure he knows where it is now. Nasa territory yan ni Lily Scammer."

That statement was unintentionally prompted by Balita columnist Ores Ting who was hitching a ride as she didn't know the monument's location as well. She inquired on June 4, 2019, if I was going to cover the inauguration on June 9. That's when Ms. Cusipag took a swipe with her gossip.

Right after reading it, I asked: "Bastosan ba ang gusto ninyo? I can easily fight back". Ms. Cusipag promptly replied: "you know where it is because you featured it in one of your videos the place is where Lily Scammer lives. just stating facts......"

It's so clear to me that Ms. Cusipag was stupidly implying that because I had an earlier video of the Rizal monument, it followed that I knew where "Lily Scammer" lived. How can her logic be so asinine?

From this point on, the heated exchanges escalated into personal attacks. On June 7, 2019, Ms. Cusipag wrote an email, and I quote verbatim: 

"Romy, This has gone too far and it is making me so sick. 

"I have decided to severe (sic) our working relationship as my health is being affected. 

"I appreciate what you have done for Balita but I feel that we cannot work together anymore

"Thank you very much

"Tess".

Collateral damage? That's what I've become defending the truth. 

I can only echo what Japan's Midori Ito says: "I have no regrets because I know I did my best -- all I could do". (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved).

Liars and Wannabe Media in Toronto's Filipino Community

Volume 1, Issue No. 21

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . 

Our latest as of Friday, December 27, 2019 

~  The dust hasn't settled yet and here comes another controversy that could potentially bankrupt businesses and individuals. A surfeit of liars is surfaced with the dropping of all cases against a Filipino businesswoman. Now we know why people lied, who their enablers were, and why they tried to propagate their black propaganda.

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AFTERMATH OF SUITS VS LIWAYWAY MIRANDA

Dismissed Cases Expose the Liars

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“I wasn't sure which was worse - to know you were a liar or to believe your own bullshit.” ― Eileen Cook, The Hanging Girl

TORONTO - Looking intense, her ferocious eyes bulging from their sockets, Liwayway Miranda aka Lily Hammer vowed to chase down her accusers, including those in the local Filipino media, for ruining her reputation and her successful business. (Latest video at: https://youtu.be/UKPL-W7am7Q).

She would not let them walk away just like that - no remorse, no admission of guilt, no word of apology, nothing that would soothe the pain they have caused her over months of casting aspersions on her as a person and as a businesswoman.

Her anger is understandable at this point, after all, she was the one at the receiving end of a seemingly relentless campaign to smear her business by people who wanted a share of the one-billion-dollar mushroom industry pie and by those threatened by her thriving recruitment agency.

She rages against the incompetent copycat "guest writer" and the equally inept publisher who both overlooked the truth for the convenience of satisfying the mob of liars breathing down their necks for Ms. Miranda's head.

And this mob - the accusers - are the six runaway mushroom pickers aided by Dominador "Jun" Saludares, a paralegal suspended by the Law Society Tribunal for committing professional misconduct. (More info at: https://lawsocietytribunal.ca/OrderAndReasons/Saludares%20(2018-12-17).pdf).

That's basically the situation Ms. Miranda found herself in once she's become the go-to person for aspiring Filipino workers seeking a better life in Canada. (More stories at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/12/cabal-of-mushroom-pickers-exposed-in.html).

The mob, propped up no less by willing enablers in media who apparently paid little or no attention to their sources, had initially succeeded in destroying her, thanks to a corrupted article by a certain Edwin Mercurio and published in Balita. 

Mercurio's article turned out to be a press release by Migrante Ontario, a workers' advocacy organization. That same press release was published in May 2019 in TML Weekly, the newspaper of the Ottawa-based Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Canada.

The "success" the mob and its enablers thought they had pulled off started to collapse during the pre-trial hearings in Superior Court. Upon cross-examination, three out of ten witnesses - a fourth was scheduled but had backed out - confessed their lies. The flaws were already showing.

Faced with the uncertainty of conviction, Crown prosecutors moved to withdraw all the charges, including human trafficking and misrepresentation, against Ms. Miranda, for lack of evidence. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

So, on that cold morning of Wednesday, December 11, 2019, the judge nodded his agreement and dropped the indictments. If the case proved anything, it is that the Filipino community is littered with liars and wannabe media people.

Teresita Cusipag, publisher and self-declared editor of Balita, the community's largest photo album of a tabloid, wrote in June 2019, and I quote: "Lily Scammer is Lily Hammer the fraud and scammer". This pitiful attempt at rhyme is fraught with legal issues.

I had objected to the categorization on grounds that no court has proven those allegations. But she was implacable, declaring instead that she was "convicted" and that I should help the "victims" find her. "Dont (sic) try to help a scammer and fraud," she asserted.

Three months earlier, in March 2019, Ms. Cusipag asked friends for a picture of Ms. Hammer so she could publish in Balita. Indeed, the paper's March 16-31, 2019 issue, carried her photo that accompanied a reprint of a Toronto Star story involving the six runaways in Small Claims Court.

Coupled with Ms. Cusipag's request for a photo was her assertion that Ms. Hammer was, in her own words, and I quote: " . . . MANLOLOKO PA RIN, SCAMMER PA RIN, CROOK PA RIN".

For good measure, she added, and I quote again verbatim: "I HOPE THESE PEOPLE (the victims supposedly) WILL CONTINUE TO FILE THE CIVIL CASE OF FRAUD. she should rot in jail. so you can visit her".

The statement presupposes a connection between me and Ms. Miranda. There's none. But I would not let that pass without comment even as I had experienced her knack for mindless outbursts every time I complained against her censoring some of my articles unfavorable to her friends.

It wasn't the first time that Ms. Cusipag tried to establish linkages. She also claimed, without proof, that Ms. Miranda "lived with him before". The "him" here is the guy who affixes "Dr." to his name to enhance his image. I personally believe he is a quack, if not, a sham.

" . . . at least he is not fraud," she wrote in defense of him like her words would magically legitimize his unchallenged claim as a "Dr.", whatever that connotes.

As I see now, and with all the background information I gathered, the cheat is the "Dr.", not Ms. Miranda. Would that make Ms. Cusipag a prevaricator? Is she his protector?

Ms. Miranda explains that she did business with the "Dr." for two months in 2011 and invested $20,000 in his recruitment agency, which, by the way, still operates in Toronto and advertises in local papers, including Balita.

"On January 2012 when I came back to Toronto (from Florida where she saw her husband), all my money that I invested were gone," Ms. Miranda explains. "He used my name to get money from applicants. And used my money for his personal needs," she adds.

From what I learn these past few days, Ms. Cusipag and the "Dr." are coming together for what's shaping up to be another sizable lawsuit for Balita. I can't wait to see how the "Dr." would unravel himself and see how he managed to dupe the community all these years. (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved).

My Unmerry Christmas Started in London, England

Volume 1, Issue No. 20

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . 

Our latest as of Tuesday, December 24, 2019 

~  Mankind's day of rejoicing is my unmerry Christmas, an ordeal that began in 2016, three years ago, in London, England, when my second-born daughter succumbed to brain cancer nine hours into the 25th of December. 

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My Unmerry Christmas

TORONTO - My unmerry Christmas began in 2016, three years ago, in London, England, when my second-born daughter succumbed to brain cancer nine hours into the 25th of December. 

From that day on, it's a struggle to equate Christmas with being merry - that's for me as a father. My personal loss is kept inside me, the grief still unhealed by time. 

Be that as it may, I wish all my readers and viewers love and peace on this most cherished day. All the best this holiday season! And for those who missed the story, here it is again:

IN DEATH, EVELYN MARQUEZ WAS MAKING WAVES

Selfless Act to Demystify Cancer

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“The souls of men are not measured by what they have done, but by what they leave behind.” ― Anonymous

LONDON - I didn't quite realize the impact earlier but now that my daughter Evelyn is gone, I am astonished at what she did when she was fully in control of her functions.

Her condition was fast deteriorating when I visited her in October, just fresh from being transferred from London Bridge Hospital where she had been admitted, released and readmitted again - an indication no less of the ebb and flow of her health.

Christmas Day was her day of reckoning decided by doctors. She had managed to wake up to that day from a little celebration of "noche buena" and stayed a full nine hours before she bade goodbye. Her brain cancer had triumphed. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=eVBXvLC6Xno)

One October morning, she signed documents bequeathing her brain to a topnotch medical school here for scientific study. It was going to be her contribution towards solving the mysteries of brain cancer, the ailment that had crept in from nowhere in 2015 and devastated her until she passed away on December 25, 2016.

This gesture had somewhat softened her demise, for me as a father. But of course, the impact would be much different and painful for her family, especially for her two young daughters ages 10 and 7.

When they would come to understand, I would tell them that their mother did not die in vain even as she had failed to conquer her illness. Nobody has vanquished cancer as yet, not even modern science.

And in the pursuit of the objective of licking it forever, their mother had made a gracious gift of the most critical organ of the body - the brain - to science.

"Leaving her brain for research was a brilliant idea and kind thought for mankind," writes Lydia R. Loristo from San Diego, California. "So magnificent to think of others at a very difficult time of her life!" 

In life, it's her brain that had made a big difference, in the university, in her chosen career in economics and finance, in the way she had treated people. Now, in death, I'm hoping it's again her brain that would help science in uncovering the secrets of cancer.

Though I am saddened by her departure, Evelyn made me a proud parent. My family's loss is hopefully mankind's gain.

Inheritance

Two hardbound books, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal, are among the prized possessions left specifically for me by my second-born daughter Evelyn.

I had read the books twice; the first when they were required reading in high school, and the second as a reference to aid in my understanding of social issues affecting present-day Filipinos, be they in the United States, in Canada or in some countries in Europe.

The gift comes with a brand-new laptop computer, a totally unexpected present she had rushed to buy in Toronto through a relative coming over to visit her while she was under palliative care. She had been moved from London Bridge Hospital after doctors had determined only a miracle could save her from brain cancer.

Once before dawn, Evelyn heard me murmuring about the difficulty of uploading pictures and videos from my cameras to my old Toshiba laptop, which, by today's standards, is already ancient even as it continues to be my workhorse whenever I travel.

It was a laborious, frustrating process. I had to delete files from at least seven years ago to free space that I can use for my new videos. "Pa, you better buy a new computer," she said, sounding more of a command than a comment.

At that time, Evelyn was already nearing the critical moment. Sometimes she was slurring her words but there was no doubt she was lucid. Her motors had been slowly being affected by the cancer, first diagnosed in the cerebrum, then spread to the cerebellum.

While still confined at the hospital and knowing recovery was impossible, she told her husband what to do with her body. She wanted to be cremated and the ashes interred in a burial park she chose in Epping Forest just outside of London. However, it's her seven-year-old daughter Isabelle who picked the spot under an oak tree.

The tranquility of the site was what attracted Evelyn to the area. She had seen the pictures in a brochure and wanted to visit the place in late fall, by which time she was already in a precipitous decline (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=912Os9iLM9E).

Anyway, our exchange that early morning resulted in the purchase of a new laptop a few days later. Suddenly the old Toshiba became decrepit, slow, lacking the latest apps and upgrades. So, my inheritance increased, from two books to the addition of the computer.

I told close friends about my inheritance and a media colleague, Mogi Mogado, viewed it in such a perspective a father like him can feel. He wrote in an email:

"This is affirmation of how much she appreciates what you do, for the good of the community, for the Filipino nation. The Noli-Fili (books) is affirmation that the ideals you are fighting for, the traditional values that we hold sacred as a people is in the right direction. I can see that in many ways you are the big influence in her life, she was very proud of her dad, Romy!"

As soon as I read Mogi's notes, I began to tear up. 

Teresa Torralba's short missive made it more sentimental. "Such an endearing inheritance!" she wrote. "Hanggang sa kamatayan eh talagang intellectual pa rin ang anak mo."

Teresa's right. Since a kid, Evelyn had immersed herself in reading, a habit she had acquired from me. A new generation looks like it's going to stay in the family. Indeed, the two daughters she had left behind are not easily moved until they finish the book they're reading.

Chip off the old block? You bet they are! (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved).

Cabal of Mushroom Pickers Exposed in Suit

Volume 1, Issue No. 19

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . 

Our latest as of Monday, December 23, 2019 

~ Filipino mushroom pickers had consulted with suspended paralegals, one of them for committing professional misconduct, in what appeared to be a conspiracy to bring down an enterprising Filipino businesswoman who had run a successful workforce management company in Toronto. But Crown prosecutors saw through the machinations, and nearly two weeks ago, a Superior Court judge agreed with government lawyers to drop all the cases for lack of evidence.

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FILIPINOS VS. FILIPINOS

The Failed Mushroom Workers' Conspiracy

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Embellishing a story for whatever reason proves you're a liar. Doing it in front of someone who knows the truth proves your stupidity.” ― D.S. Mixell

TORONTO - The six Filipino workers who had escaped from a mushroom farm and later resettled by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had sought legal counsel from two paralegals whose licence had been suspended by the Law Society of Ontario.

Additionally, the wannabe writer who reported their plight in a Filipino entertainment tabloid actually lifted his story from a press release by an organization with links to the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Canada.

Encouraged by the prospect of gaining status in Canada, the runaways claimed to have been victims of trafficking, a charge leveled on Liwayway Miranda aka Lily Hammer, the person responsible for bringing them in Toronto through her company, A&L Hammer Workforce Management.

The accusation which the CBSA lodged in Superior Court of Ontario did not prosper and was officially withdrawn by Crown prosecutors a week ago, or on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

The six escapees were Irvin Atanoza, Marianne Balabad, Jon Edison Diongson, Renante Maximo, Elian Pearl Navarro, and Mark Anthony Orquiza. One of them - Elian Pearl Navarro - was three months pregnant when they came in July 2016. (Background: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/).

They all entered Canada as mushroom pickers but are now employed at Blue Mountain, a ski resort in southwest Ontario 170 kilometres from downtown.

A Filipino paralegal named Dominador "Jun" Dela Saludares handled the complaint of the six accusers, who had previously given their testimonies to Michele Agatha Rose, a Black paralegal in North York whose status was "suspended administratively".

Saludares himself was found guilty of professional misconduct and ordered suspended by the Law Society Tribunal at the time he acted as a legal advocate for the six fugitives. (More info at: https://lawsocietytribunal.ca/OrderAndReasons/Saludares%20(2018-12-17).pdf).

Indeed, on December 17, 2018, the Tribunal issued an order, stating, and I quote: 

"Mr. Saludares committed professional misconduct by acting in circumstances where he ought to have known that he was being used to facilitate dishonesty, fraud, or illegal conduct, failing to comply with client verification requirements, and acting outside the scope of his P1 paralegal licence. His licence is suspended for three months, and he is ordered to pay $5,000 in costs to the Law Society".

Saludares was not immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile, a certain Edwin Mercurio, the wannabe writer who wrote "The continuing saga of abuse, exploitation and deceit perpetuated (sic) against migrant workers by Lily Miranda, et al continues to unfold" in Balita tabloid had jumbled the facts, identifying one innocent farm from another and wrongly naming the complainants of a different agency.

When cross-examined during a preliminary inquiry on November 7, 2019, Elian Pearl Navarro, the pregnant woman at the time, testified that all six of them were given copies of a letter by CBSA which stated that, and I quote: 

" x x x If you feel that you may be a victim or know someone who may be a victim, you can contact the person noted below.

"There are many resources available to victims of human trafficking to which we can refer you to address various issues such as emergency housing and assistance with regularization of immigration status.

"Individuals determined to be victims of trafficking by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) may be issued with Temporary Resident Permits, healthcare coverage and open Work Permits".

The undated letter addressed only to "recipient" was signed by one "Percy Nicolas, investigator".

Faced with the possibility of bettering their situation promised by CBSA, the six mushroom pickers readily acceded to incriminate Ms. Miranda and Laxman Marsonia, owner and president of Sharon Mushroom Farm.

"Because of this letter, the runaway workers told CBSA that they are 'Victims of Human Trafficking' even they are not," Ms. Miranda explained. "And because of this, Sharon Mushroom Farm and my agency were charged with human trafficking".

When Crown prosecutors last week dropped all the charges against her and the other agency, we knew who was lying and who conspired to lie and bring down a successful business venture by a Filipino entrepreneur. (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved).