Heated Tabloid Spectacle in the Filipino Community

 Volume 2, Issue No. 35

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, November 3, 2020 

~ Toronto's Filipino community is at a loss as to who to believe and who to follow. Two hostiles are claiming to fight for the truth. Yet they also have no qualms spreading fake news. Each one has faults. None has a monopoly on disinformation. The spectacle is a sideshow to bigger issues that need to be addressed. At the core of the heated dispute are the personal motives and interests of the players - the people behind the mudslinging tabloids and their supporters.

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STARRING BALITA AND PERIODICO

Mudslinging Contest Between Tabloids  

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“He who slings mud generally losses ground.” - Adlai E. Stevenson

TORONTO - In the midst of the mudslinging and accusations of wrongdoing, the man at the center of the deepening conflict has largely remained quiet, seemingly unperturbed by the verbal skirmishes in print and social media.

Does he deserve the approval of his defenders and the condemnation of his alleged victims?

The animus that drives two Filipino tabloids - Balita and Periodico - into a war of destruction is engendered by a certain Chito Collantes, a labor recruiter who passes himself off as a "Dr.", and self-declared founder of a shadowy group called "Elite Crusaders".

Balita, published by Filipino journalist Ruben Cusipag's widow Teresita Cusipag, is an old hand in the local media scene, its presence felt wide in the Greater Toronto Area in the last 42 years. It had been quite a reliable source of news and idle talk and advocate for the community until it identified itself - wrongly I believe - with Collantes and his group. (Full story at: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310439).

On the other hand, Periodico is four-issues old, an unrefined newbie owned and run by an obscure team with no track record of being newspaper persons or journalists. Like its print version, it is a shameless practitioner of yellow journalism. (Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism).

The tabloid has hardly set a toeprint in Toronto, but with its sensationalized publishing of stolen articles and pictures, it may succeed in deceiving the community with its purported mission to restore faith and ethics in journalism which, ironically, it doesn't have. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/10/online-and-in-print-periodico-shows-web.html).

The declaration that "More people believe in Periodico because we express disapproval of fake news, exaggeration and disinformation" is self-promotion geared to attract readers and advertisers who stay away because of its toxic and narrow-minded reporting. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/10/periodico-phony-print-and-online.html).

 A common hatred for each other exists between Balita and Periodico. Both hurl the stinkiest dirt and the most hurtful accusations enough to send a frenzy of wagging tongues in the community. All the while, the object of their affection and scorn is just sitting it out in comfort.

Balita promotes and protects Collantes and his purported "crusaders". In fact, he is a regular advertiser in Balita. Ms. Cusipag, the paper's publisher, has said that Collantes is an old friend of hers. I wonder how that friendship goes. (Background: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/09/who-are-real-scammers-in-filipino.html).

Periodico, meanwhile, alleges that Collantes is wanted by law enforcement authorities in the Philippines for illegal recruitment activities. A photographic copy of a warrant of arrest made available to this reporter appears to back up that claim.

Collantes is not without fault either. He is like a chatterbox given to exaggerations and groundless statements. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawXMwwUVOU).

One unsupported claim he has propagated - and echoed repeatedly by Ms. Cusipag - was that he had a romantic relationship with a local businesswoman, Lily Hammer, who has strongly denied it. She explained that Collantes made up the story to deflect attention and cover up his misdeed.

That misdeed was the $20,000 that Lily Hammer had invested in his recruitment agency. She said he pocketed the money and spent some of it on buying basketball uniforms for a team he was promoting. Collantes has not denied the allegation.

Ms. Cusipag also seems to have a bone to pick with Ms. Hammer. Jealousy, envy, real concern for her alleged victims, or plain stupidity defending Collantes are the more plausible reasons for what looks like her unswerving loyalty to him.

Her excuse was that she was advocating for alleged victims of Ms. Hammer's work placement agency. Besides, she seems to have a hard time accepting a Superior Court decision dismissing all the charges against Ms. Hammer. (Video and story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

Ms. Hammer's friendly relations with the secretive Naomi Ong, the elusive owner (as of March, could've changed hands already) of Periodico, has embroiled her in her own troubles with the law.

Ms. Ong is variously accused of being a scammer in at least three areas - in London, Ontario; in the Greater Toronto Area, and in the Philippines. As an example, Mae Bentia, a GTA resident, has come forward with the revelation that Ms. Ong had swindled her. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/10/online-and-in-print-periodico-shows-web.html).

Ms. Bentia had previously gone to Balita for help in exposing Ms. Ong, whereupon Ms. Cusipag and Collantes' so-called "Elite Crusaders" joined her in chasing after Ms. Ong. To exact revenge, Ms. Ong put up Periodico as means to defend her and Ms. Hammer from Balita's constant attacks.

Early this year, I was hired as editor-in-chief of Periodico, not knowing it would be transformed into a launchpad for Ms. Ong's personal tirades right after my work had ended after the March 2020 issue. From April to September, Periodico carried all my articles on its website without my knowledge and permission. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JWqL2AUDc).

Though there's bad blood between Balita and Perdiodico, a few things separate one from the other. One is the latter's status. While Balita is very much above ground and selectively transparent, Periodico hides underground. Feeling safe and untouched in its subterranean bunker, it assaults its perceived enemies relentlessly. (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).