Balita Tabloid Settles Costs of Litigation

 Volume 2, Issue No. 55

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, January 25, 2021 

~ Getting blamed for losing chunks of money and being called a jinx are just too much to bear. But it happened last week when the person, untiring of efforts to portray herself as a victim, emailed her friends boasting of how much she paid to bring closure to litigation and then blaming others for her misery. The circumstances are different from the truth; her situation is as much a result of her false bravado and thoughtlessness. 

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BALKING AT REALITY 

Bitterness Over Losing Money, Not Over Honor 

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Boasting about wealth is an open invitation to others to divest you of it.” ― Stewart Stafford

TORONTO - A few years after the fact, the bitterness and ill will generated by lawsuits have not dissipated, not ever it would seem, all because they are entangled with huge amounts of payouts.

Any media entity is not invincible to legal challenges especially if it pursues uncovering wrongdoing, abuse, and scandalous activities. It becomes worst when the unprotected media outfit has little or no understanding of the work it sets out to do.

That was the predicament the Balita tabloid found itself in. Over the years, its main staple was entertainment, moviedom scandals, beauty pageants, and a smattering of community gossip, yellow tales, press and praise releases, advertorials, and meaningless writeups passed off as news.

I had hoped to change that culture when I joined in January 2012 upon the invitation of its editor and publisher, the late Ruben Cusipag, a notable journalist in the Philippines before he escaped the wrath of strongman Ferdinand Marcos, immigrated to Canada, and settled in Toronto. (Additional story at: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310439).

From the mid-90s to 2010, the year I moved to Toronto, I was writing for community periodicals in California, Illinois, and Arizona, then put up my own newspapers beginning in 1998 with a particular focus on investigative journalism. As I expected, the venture attracted adversaries like a moth to a flame.

(Related stories at:https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-inevitable-conflict-between-editors.html and http://www.mabuhayradio.com/san-diego-happenings/exposing-the-scams-and-scandals-is-not-new).

I was taken to court at least two times to stop me from writing about certain personalities in San Diego. Both instances failed as the courts upheld freedom of the press. The bigger problem I thought then was the threat of physical violence than those in courts of law.

(Related stories at: http://www.mabuhayradio.com/san-diego-happenings/superior-court-rejects-edna-consing-concepcion-s-plea-for-a-restraining-order-vs-marquez and http://www.mabuhayradio.com/san-diego-happenings/edna-s-dog-and-pony-show).

I did very much the same thing in Toronto for Balita, effectively raising its profile among the local tabloids, and winning more readers and advertisers enough to crow that it has become Toronto's largest Filipino newspaper by reach, by the number of copies it prints, and by its original content. No other paper came close.

Some of my stories during the time I wrote for Balita had landed me in hot water through no fault of mine alone. A competent editor would have called my attention and flagged my articles if they were veering towards libel. I believe now and I believed then that the legal action brought against me and Balita could have a different outcome had the defense been robust.

I'm saying this now because I'm again at the receiving end of this whining by Balita publisher Teresita Cusipag, its self-declared editor, who calls me a "total jinx".

"You started them all," she screams. "Your fight became our fight . . . You caused our lives hell by just your coming". 

There's a lot of bitterness there, over money essentially, and for one journalist like myself just helping her paper as it had embarked on real journalism, the blame is too much to bear for her misfortune.

Yet through the years when Balita's reputation soared to new heights of admiration for my investigative stories, she was lapping up the recognition and the power that came with it. For, indeed, we were exposing and fighting false giants and dubious role-players in the community, not windmills as in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Ms. Cusipag said she had a "rude awakening" in having me at Balita, conveniently forgetting that I was invited by its founder Ruben Cusipag to join as a reporter. I knew that he wanted to inject some thinking into the paper but did not have the heart to tell her she was unequal to the task of editing a newspaper simply because she utterly lacked the bona fides.

In my early years in Toronto, I just wanted to have a print outlet for my stories and commentaries. So, Ruben's invitation was a welcome development. I did not know then that my writing stint, which lasted seven years, had constituted employment, a fact concealed from me but was uncovered by Canada Revenue Agency during an audit.

That meant Balita was my employer and as such, it was obligated to comply with certain labor requirements. Upon my dismissal in June 2019 for contravening her and her insults, I asked for a certificate of employment that the provincial labor ministry needed to process my application for insurance. That request was simply ignored.

Ms. Cusipag's latest outburst appeared to have been precipitated by the payment she and her family made to one of the complainants who had sued us for libel and won.

"that idiot (name redacted) is half a million richer today", she wrote in an email on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, and copied to me and three other individuals.

"All this time," she continued, "I thought he was rich, the way he acted so superior, PATAYGUTOM PALA LIKE (name redacted). I HOPE ROMY MARQUEZ IS VERY HAPPY NOW."

Ms. Cusipag could have just told the recipients that she had completed payment of the amount ordered by the court after losing the libel case. But no, she had to sideswipe me, and another person, along the way, suggesting that I take great pleasure in the bad luck that has befallen her. Well, I do understand the pain and I can only commiserate.

However, there's something she said that's truly repulsive by any standard of decency. Verbal insults may be endured but this one she wrote is not tolerable. So repugnant it is that I had to express my disgust in reply to her email, I wrote:

"No matter how bad or how much I lost in any fight, I never wish my enemies ill the way you did, as follows: "I hope he gets COVID fast and his diabetis (sic) to have more and more complications so he would not benefit from all those monies that he has never seen in his life . . . "  And she claims to be religious?

See, it's not all about principle and honor. The damn thing is about money! (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).

Amanda Gorman - Youngest Poet at Biden-Harris Inauguration

Volume 2, Issue No. 54

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 Thursday, January 21, 2021 

~ A big relief it was to see on television the passage of one era from its chaotic past to a new one that promises to restore peace and dignity to everyone in America. The inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris portends a return to normalcy. We celebrate them as the rest of the free world should. A young poet articulates what many of us feel and captures the essence and meaning of that inspiring moment. Amanda Gorman reads her inaugural poem that touches the soul.

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AMANDA GORMAN, NATIONAL YOUTH POET LAUREATE

A Historic Moment Celebrated in a Poem 

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

TORONTO - Amanda Gorman, America's first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, read a stirring poem she wrote for the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as President, and Kamala Harris as Vice President of the United States on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, in the US Capitol.

At 22 years, the Los Angeles, California native is the youngest ever to write a poem for such a national event, invited no less by US First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. 

Gorman now becomes the fifth poet to read at presidential inaugurations and shares a commonality with poets such as Robert Frost in 1961, Maya Angelou in 1993, Miller Williams in 1997, and Elizabeth Alexander in 2009. 

Her piece is entitled "The Hill We Climb".

As we here at Filipino Web Magazine also love poetry, we're delighted and privileged to run the poem so readers could feel its full meaning. Enjoy!

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The Hill We Climb

By AMANDA GORMAN 

National Youth Poet Laureate

When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.

We braved the belly of the beast.

We’ve learned that quiet isn't always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn't always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we'll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

If we're to live up to our own time, then victory won't lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we've made.

That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit.

It's the past we step into and how we repair it.

We've seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.

But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain.

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children's birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.

We will rise from the sun-baked South.

We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.

The new dawn balloons as we free it.

For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it.

If only we're brave enough to be it. (Copyright (c) belongs to Amanda Gorman).

How Donald Trump Is Portrayed in At Least a Dozen Books

Volume 2, Issue No. 53

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, January 19, 2021 

~ At 12 noon Eastern tomorrow (Wednesday, January 20), Donald Trump would have faded into history as a lawless president, the only one in the annals of the United States to have been impeached twice, the latest one just days ago for inciting his supporters and diehard loyalists to storm the U.S. Capitol in efforts to overturn the results of the election that had rejected him in favor of rival Joe Biden. Countless accounts of his deception, outright lies, and criminal activities have been preserved in books - I got 12 of them, by the way - by former cabinet members, aides, and journalists who covered him during his presidency. Reading them one by one is a good way to spend time while in lockdown because of the pandemic.

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THE 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT FADES AWAY

Immersing in Books About Donald Trump

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body". - Richard Steele

TORONTO - Something I had not done for a long time - and I put the blame on the current health situation - is this once-in-a-blue-moon favor to myself to indulge in a little bit of a book-buying spree online, thus far the most convenient, safest, and fastest way to shop.

I'm not much of a book collector, but I do gather volumes that arouse my interest. To me, happiness is a book of poems, non-fiction novels, autobiography, law, military tactics, politics, and history. 

Books are handy sources of knowledge, comfort, and wisdom. One could easily count on them to walk you through the past, or to let you catch sight of moments with love-struck writers and poets of another generation like the Brownings, Robert and Elizabeth, Emily Dickinson, and many others.

In my growing collection, I have 40 hard-bound poetry books, plus the novels by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Once during a visit to Manila, I bought a dozen books by noted Filipino writers and brought them to Canada to add to my small library.

Priceless gifts from my daughter are the famed novels of Jose Rizal - Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo - which occupy a special place in my bookshelves along with the three volumes of A Cup of Kapeng Barako by a dear friend in Seattle, the journalist Jesse Jose, who gave me the honor of writing the foreword. 

The pandemic and the lockdowns it triggered have pushed reading to new heights, and this is just about the best moment to enjoy the written word.

Pre-pandemic, I would spend hours at Indigo browsing through bookshelves, the bestsellers first, then work my way through history, autobiography, non-fiction, politics, and finally, the collection of poems from old to the new.

I also bought books that were put on sale in public libraries, usually costing $1 to $2 apiece, which is much cheaper than would find in thrift stores. Thrift shops are a real haven for zealous bookworms with a limited budget. 

Well, the coronavirus pandemic ended all that. From the comfort of home, one can really go binge-buying at the fraction of time one normally spends in book stores. Having no alternative choice, that's what I did . . . at quite a cost! No regret there though.

When Mary L. Trump's book about her uncle Donald Trump Too Much and Never Enough subtitled How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man came out six months ago, I was one of the first to buy it online. 

However, I grew impatient waiting for its home delivery so that when I had the chance to go to Costco, I saw copies there and bought one. I had been aching to read her personal account so I could write about it. 

My articles from that book are here:

1. https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/mary-l-trump-i-cant-let-donald-trump.html

2. https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/donald-trump-gets-bashed-by-his-sister.html

3. https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/trump-family-allies-throw-caution-to.html

The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, has renewed my interest in Donald Trump as the 45th U.S. president. I already have a copy of his 2004 book Trump - How to Get Rich co-authored by Meredith McIver, and it provided a superficial view of him as a businessman.

One week after the siege, the House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach him for inciting his supporters and right-wing followers to attack the Capitol and stop the proclamation of Jose Biden and Kamala Harris as the duly-elected president and vice president of the United States.

Now, as he reluctantly bows out of government (officially, his tenure ends at noon tomorrow, Wednesday, January 20, 2021), a slew of books chronicling news accounts, personal anecdotes, and work experiences with him has been published and readily made available in bookstores.

The books may be able to provide new insights - other than he lost the election to Biden - to fully understand why Trump would stir up unrest, as he did on January 6. 

Books are nourishment for the brain. That's the underlying reason to justify this little indulgence which ended in buying six more books about Trump, in addition to the six others I had purchased previously. 

Now I have 12 books regarding his conduct in office - Impeach by Neal Katyal; Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction by David Enrich; Front Row at the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl; Compromised subtitled Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump by Peter Strzok; Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth by The Washington Post; The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton; Disloyal by Michael Cohen; Rage by Bob Woodward; Siege by Michael Wolff; Undaunted by John O. Brennan; and Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff.

To finish all the books would require setting a schedule between writing. The swearing-in of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday means reading would take a back seat. Of course, the transition of the presidency from Trump to Biden is one single moment of great significance.

Before I could even settle and start serious reading, Trump would already be a historical figure who has scored a first - the first U.S. president to be impeached twice! A new chapter in U.S. history is unfolding. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).

Filipino Centre Toronto's Arrogance Dates Back Years

Five years and three months ago, the Filipino Centre Toronto ended its intransigence and welcomed back one of its founding members, Dr. Francisco Portugal, reinstated his membership, and agreed to pay at least $400,000 to cover the cost of protracted litigation. 

I covered its annual general meeting on Oct. 22, 2014, and filed the story below. For reasons not explained, the story was removed from the website of Balita, the paper I covered it for, although it appeared in its print edition for that month. 

Because of its continued relevance to the Filipino community and also for historical purposes, I'm running the story again and publishing it on my blog at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/. Here goes . . .

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Volume 2, Issue No. 52

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, January 16, 2021, a re-issue of the article published October 25, 2014 

~ It all boils down to a costly exercise of power. Five years after he was booted out of Filipino Centre Toronto, Dr. Francisco Portugal is restored without much fanfare, his dignity intact. The cost of fighting to regain his membership is at least $400,000 - the amount of money FCT spent in deciding to settle. As he explains it, "the defense of our right to speak, to dissent and to differ" was very much the core of the litigation that ended in his reinstatement.

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THE $400,000-SETTLEMENT

Filipino Centre Toronto's Costly Exercise of Power

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

"What makes me mad is arrogance, pretension, putting on airs." - David Duchovny

TORONTO - Two civilian-attired security guards greeted arriving guests to the annual general meeting of Filipino Centre Toronto on Wednesday, October 22 at 7 p.m. I had come 20 minutes earlier but it wasn't until almost an hour later, or shortly before 8, that something of a morality play began.

The day before, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Rey Tolentino, chair of FCT board of directors, emailed the information that I could cover it. The authorization extended to 14 others. I had earlier conveyed to him and FCT president Linda Javier that I would be there for Balita newspaper and my own The Filipino Web Channel on YouTube.

Anonymous tipsters had alerted me to the meeting. They said Dr. Francisco Portugal, the family physician booted out in 2009 for alleged "conduct unbecoming", would be reinstated as a member in good standing. 

The information implied that FCT's claims of improper behaviour were all for naught, and that the organization was willing to swallow its arrogance to restore the doctor's dignity. That was the whole meaning of the story. FCT's contempt of Dr. Portugal cost it at least $400,000 in prolonged litigation.

"The annual general meeting has been scheduled for members only," Tolentino explained on Friday, Oct. 17, thus effectively barring me from coverage. However, I insisted that I would come as a journalist. "I do not mean to crash that meeting but I'm now invoking the public interest in being there," I wrote back.

Four days later, Tolentino replied, saying "the FCT Board has allowed members of the media to attend the AGM meeting". 

Apparently, the concern was that Dr. Portugal was going to turn the meeting into what Tolentino called "a circus". He explained: "We also heard that x x x and his cohorts at the Press Club is planning to crash the meeting so no press will be allowed".

I was not covering for either FCT or Dr. Portugal. My coverage was for the information and knowledge of the Filipino community, specifically those in the Greater Toronto Area where FCT draws support.

So it was quite obvious that the presence of two burly guards at the entrance to FCT's Rizal Hall was to thwart any attempt to stage a carnival of sorts. To their credit, the guards, despite Tolentino's statement that "ID required for entry," did not ask for press credentials before I was allowed in.

The long media table was situated far at the back directly across from the stage. To take good photos of the principal players from that distance would require zoom lens. Moreover, the audience had their backs turned against the media.

Deliberate or not, the situation was not conducive to coverage as the press was practically segregated and caged. Movement was restricted, according to officials, and only the hired videographer could shoot from the sidelines outside the press area.

As I expected, none of the 14 other media persons from the Press Club showed up. Not being a social event, I thought that the likelihood of their attendance was absolutely nil. It proved prophetic.

Inside the hall, the atmosphere was one of uneasy calm. I could sense the general hostility towards Dr. Portugal. When he came in with his wife, the room fell quiet. None had welcomed him. One person, Fred Gamboa of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association, stood up to greet him. Soon, the couple sat at the last row of the half-empty chairs.

The night's events started off with a prayer. With heads bowed, everybody looked supplicant. If the members present could be so religious as to open their meeting with an entreaty for divine help, why couldn't they show courtesy to a returning member? The thought crossed my mind.

Dr. Portugal seemed, and made sure to look like, an outcast. His demands for reinstatement after he was cashiered in 2009 had fallen on deaf ears, sparking a costly five-year campaign to reclaim his dignity. It proved disastrous, for FCT had to fork out at least $400,000 to fight a legal battle that many people said should have been settled right away.

FCT had not made any public announcement that it was reinstating Dr. Portugal. As the meeting had gone past the presentation and approval of financial statement, Tolentino called on Dr. Portugal to deliver his address.

I thought that it was disingenuous for FCT to just yield the floor to Dr. Portugal without any explanation that he was being restored, specially to outsiders. I did not know anything. I simply assumed that since he was given the floor to talk, his reinstatement was implied.

In the agenda, it said Dr. Portugal had five minutes for his address. Not one watch was synchronized, however. Linda Javier's husband Felino, seated at the media table, bellowed "times up" twice as a signal for Dr. Portugal to stop. A second later, Tolentino joined in. But actually, he still had 29 seconds to finish up.

Dr. Portugal persisted, saying: "I have timed my speech for five minutes". Whereupon Tolentino remarked: "Well, you're not getting . . . "  Dr. Portugal continued despite the protestations. A minute later, Tolentino ended it with a firm "I'm sorry your five minutes is . . . you had a maximum of five minutes". 

Raising his hands as a gesture of submission, Dr. Portugal simply gave in. Linda Javier explained loudly that the "terms of the settlement said five minutes max". It ended just like that. (Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlJH4SIYsc&list=UUjYsgGZZAP7lpqJczW4z47g).

In Dr. Portugal's conciliatory speech, the prospect of reconciliation looked promising. Ironically, however, what he fought over the years - "the defense of our right to speak, to dissent and to differ" - was quickly thrown out of the window by FCT's insolence.

FCT could have been magnanimous in defeat, although it wouldn't say so. Allowing him to continue would not have cost a minute. I read the last part, all of four short paragraphs, exhorting FCT to a dialogue and to rebuild.

Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmUpx-xg9YQ&list=UUjYsgGZZAP7lpqJczW4z47g&index=699).

Dr. Portugal's re-installation through an address to FCT members was for me a public thrashing of its leadership that had nearly brought the organization to its knees with litigation expenses of at least $400,000 - "monies," to quote him, "that could have spent on programs to benefit our people - our community".

The very principles that Dr. Portugal had fought for got another trouncing, courtesy of FCT again. 

The burly guards, the cold shoulder, the impounding of media in a corner, the stiff resistance to reconciliation - all by FCT - only strengthen Waves newspaper publisher Teresa M. Torralba's profound comment in Tagalog: "Naku parang may animosity pa rin sila." (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).