Volume 1, Issue No. 31
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 Saturday, March 7, 2020
- There's really nothing elite about them nor are they the gallant crusaders of ancient times, but a group of men with dubious backgrounds has assembled and called themselves "Elite Crusaders". The "elite" and "crusaders" parts are at best illusory, but just the same, the group attracts people who see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. The situation is regrettable.
PUBLIC SHAMING OF WOMAN TRIGGERS . . .
A Red Flag for 'Elite Crusaders'
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
TORONTO - A young woman's complaint, a boast of sexual conquests, an unreported sexual assault, a misrepresentation, and an alleged identity fraud have raised a red flag on a small group of men identifying themselves as officers of the so-called Elite Crusaders Canada (ECC).
As we all know, a red flag is "a sign or signal indicating potential, incipient, or imminent danger or trouble," the dictionary says. It is an alert to something risky.
Since its launch in a forum on January 26, 2020, the ECC has been packaging itself as a shining example of uprightness, a protector to run to for succor. Its top officials consisted of Chito Collantes, "founder/chairman"; Taki Onate, "president"; Ron Culianista Turla, "corp. secretary"; and Nino Hasta, "board of director".
In a recent video posted on Facebook, Collantes stated that one of the ECC's missions is "to help those being victimized by physical harassment, sexual harassment, scammers". I thought the statement is full of ironies.
Incidentally in the same video, Collantes made a boast of having girlfriends in Mississauga, Windsor, Toronto, and the Philippines. It isn't clear if he had romantic or sexual relationships with them all at the same time or one after the other.
Anyway, what he said sounds impressive to those who knew nothing of him and his team. A closer look reveals there's nothing more to it than a soundbite, and it's not a real declaration of a commitment to do good in serving the community, either.
I say that much after getting hold of a phone chat via Facebook messenger between Collantes and his colleague Taki Onate. At one point, they agreed to keep their discussion secret as it also involved enlisting the support of Teresita "Tess" Cusipag and her Balita newspaper.
At that time, Balita ran an article bylined by the copycat Edwin Mercurio about a couple against whom, he said, charges (unspecified) were filed. Unbeknownst to Cusipag, the publication of that story was the opening that afforded Collantes and Onate to latch on to her. It was to be their vehicle to get to her good graces and promote ECC.
"The opportunity was there, so they took it," my source explained. Eventually, they got Cusipag to support ECC by way of free publicity. Balita was one of three entertainment tabloids that publicized the ECC's "Iwas Scam" event in Scarborough in January.
A source had offered to this reporter screenshots of the conversation to show how they connived and tricked Cusipag into propping up the ECC and its first attempt to attract public attention for its "Iwas Scam". Given this context, Cusipag appeared to be an innocent but willing victim.
In their exchange, Onate echoed what Collantes had earlier said, which is that the ECC was just for "publicity" to boost Collantes' recruitment and immigration business and at the same allow him (Onate) to be seen as an active player in the community.
Onate told an unidentified chatmate in Tagalog: "Publicity lng namin yun pra tuloy din daw ako sa community at sa negosyo niya, sekreto lng ito at tiwala ako syo na wag mkalabas. Sinasakyan lng ang issue".
Finding this out now, I have to raise the symbolic red flag as a warning to the community to take extra care in dealing with wolves in sheep's clothing. And I don't mean that to refer to Collantes, Onate, and the entire ECC in particular.
I know I would be subjected to endless online bashing, if not actual physical violence and intimidation. Well, I've grown accustomed to all dangers and risks from the time I committed to unearthing fraud and criminal activities as a journalist.
Our "crusaders" are a pathetic cousin to the historical religious crusaders we learned from school, them who were chivalrous, morally upright fighters for a cause. The ECC is far from it. I say it again here, our "crusaders" are anything but.
A young lady's complaint has reached me through social media. A concerned citizen sent me a snapshot of the thing being complained of and there in front of me, I see the smiling face of the selfie-taker and Facebook poster himself, a guy named Nino Hasta.
I suspect the name must be an alias. Quickly enough, my inquiries yielded information, unverified as of this writing, that the guy answers to another name. In the real world, he's known as Kristofferson Vista, according to those who knew and saw his face on a video on Facebook. But I still have to cross-check that.
But why would ECC tolerate such duplicity, allow him to hide his true identity and publicly claimed he is Nino Hasta? Hasta la vista, eh? See you later, eh?
Hasta took a selfie in a restaurant where three women were having their meal. They were there facing each other, providing a background for the selfie. The lady whose back faced his camera was apparently unaware that her behind was exposed.
It would have been an innocent snap, except that Hasta's intent was obviously malicious. Seeing her butt crack or bum cleavage showing while they dined, Hasta took aim and had his shot. Her crena (the formal term for the cleft between the buttocks) was what attracted him to do the selfie.
Not content with invading the women diners' privacy, Hasta encircled the butt crack with a red marker, without doubt to highlight it, and posted the same on Facebook with the tag: "kapag gutom ala na pakialam baka maubusan ng ulam sa budol fight . . . "
That was disgusting, unchivalrous of a "crusader". Is Hasta emboldened by the cloak he had put on himself that he would not be found and held accountable, assuming his ECC identity is just a cover?
The woman has complained about being stressed, bullied, and scared after Hasta published the photo. "It was an unlawful act," she said, "and cannot be tolerated".
She asked an unidentified friend to help her arrive at a decision either to just stay silent or seek a public apology for what he did.
"My friends and I want to see him make a sincere expression of regret and a promise to not do it again on others," she explained. "We also want a guarantee that the pictures are deleted from his phone," she added.
Back to the video post. Explaining the ECC's mission, Taki Onate said, and I quote: "We're not one-sided. Itatama namin ang mali". For his part, Ron Culianista Turla stated: "Ang EEC para sa naloloko . . . wala po kaming scam na ginagawa".
True? We'll see in the next issue. (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).
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