Filipino Web Magazine: February 2021

Tuesday 23 February 2021

Doc Kiko's Fight for Transparency in FCT Lives On

Volume 2, Issue No. 58

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, February 23, 2021

~ This freedom-loving advocate for transparency and accountability had to endure the brickbats in his fight for transparency and accountability in the organization he had co-founded in Toronto. Tarred and feathered while wholly into the squabble, Dr. Francisco S. Portugal had succeeded in regaining his honor and restored it to its pristine self, only to be stopped midway by adversaries too weak to stand for principle.

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FRANCISCO S. PORTUGAL

The Doctor Who Fought for Honor and Principle

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Bravery is born of a conviction so deep that not to act is not to live.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

TORONTO - When I re-uploaded last month the article I had written in October 2014 about the legal settlement reached by the non-profit Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) and Dr. Francisco Portugal, nobody knew it would develop into some kind of a testimonial to his principled life.

"Doc Kiko," the endearment his many friends, associates, and patients, bestowed on him through decades of medical practice in the Filipino community, had passed away on Friday, February 19, 2021, his family has announced in an online obituary. (https://www.forevermissed.com/drfrancisco-portugal/about).

It struck me that this soft-spoken family physician would be mired in a dispute with FCT the first time I met him, for talking to him I got the impression he would be the last person to whip up controversy. Take into account his professional role in the community, the less reason there was he would engage in such exercise. He was not into grandstanding.

People speak highly of him, and for all the good reasons.

Lucy Adea worked as a secretary at his clinic in Toronto. "During those eight years, I witnessed how dedicated he was as a family doctor," she writes. "Not only to the medical side of every patient but to the personal aspects of an individual," she says. "Anything you asked from him, he will try and make sure he will be of help. He won’t say No, he will find ways to be of help and assistance to each who will seek help from him".

Violy Boltron adds: "Doc Kiko was unfazed by anything. He had a cool 'as a cucumber' attitude with everything. Patients and friends loved him. He was that kind of person who never said 'no' to anyone asking for help or favor. He was the go-to man if one needs his support, his opinion".

Marife Laceda shares her impression: "A good father, provider and has that cheerful demeanour towards people. He has that charisma most doctors don’t have. You see a man who cared much about his profession and you could always speak to him and accommodate you as a person. Through those years, he remained as popular and the same doctor people would want to see . . .tireless and effortless".

Caught in the midst of wrangling typical in Filipino community associations, there he was, standing tall, fighting for his honor, insisting on his rights, and leading the way for the organization he had co-founded to open up and be accountable to its members.

Then and only then did I realize that Doc Kiko was a man of principle. His forced departure from FCT was the type of bullying he had never tolerated. So he put up a spirited fight, never mind that it would drag on for years at great cost.

The stakes were high - his reputation as a doctor, as a family man, as an exemplary member of the community, and as a friend and associate to many people, including his patients who looked up to him.

For one steeped in medicine, it seemed unlikely that he would, and he did, advocate for rights familiar to those in the media - the ability to speak one's mind without fear. He had a fair understanding of those inalienable rights exercised in democratic countries and lived them through his advocacy. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/filipino-centre-torontos-arrogance.html).

"The defense of our right to speak, to dissent and to differ" - the bedrock of his principle - had been curtailed at the same forum where his name had been unsuccessfully tarnished, and now restored to its pristine self, by the very people who had sought his removal.

The reality of it all was obvious even to the lay observer. While he was being reinstated as a member of FCT in good standing, he was also being squeezed out. He was welcomed in the most unwelcome way! (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlJH4SIYsc&list=UUjYsgGZZAP7lpqJczW4z47g).

Yet all Doc Kiko had wanted was for FCT to be transparent with its finances and its officials held answerable for their deeds.

Since October 2014 when the controversy supposedly ended, FCT remains stingy with its financial status. It's no exaggeration to say FCT is hermetically-sealed with monies and how they are spent.

Current FCT officials led by Mary Ann San Juan, FCT president, and Efren de Villa, FCT chair, have repeatedly paid lip service to their public declarations of transparency and accountability. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZFXKzvQqYY).

"There's a four-million-dollar reason for their refusal to call a members' meeting and lay everything on the table," says a member who did not want to be identified because of personal friendship with officials. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/12/fcts-masterpiece-of-gobbledygook.html).

The big question that has not been properly addressed was the payment of $678,000 to individual claimants who were either officers, volunteers, or members, soon after FCT sold its old building for $5.9 million and bought a fixer-upper as its new office for $1.9 million. That's where the $4 million came from, and whose whereabouts are not clear.

Monday 22 February 2021

Books to While Away Time

Volume 2, Issue No. 57

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Monday, February 22, 2021

~ Nothing short of wonderful is this acquired hobby being turned into an enduring part of one's daily routine in these most trying times of the coronavirus pandemic. Reading is as much of nourishment for the mind as food is to the body. As the virus and its variants continue to hold us captive, the choice of activity is constrained. One pleasant way to go around the stress and strain is to read books of poetry, history, autobiographies, non-fiction, current events, and what have you.

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'SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME'

Reading: A Way Through the Pandemic Era

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” ― Charles W. Eliot

TORONTO - Something I had missed since moving here from California eleven years ago is this wholesome hobby of reading books while taking a break from the daily routine of reporting the news and writing commentaries.

Since the coronavirus surfaced at about this time last year and took an unprecedented toll on human lives, everyone was mandated by health and civil authorities to avoid huge gatherings, shelter in place, quarantine, and practice physical distancing, including adhering to health protocols such as wearing masks and frequent hand washing.

The regulations are meant to keep us and others safe from contracting the virus which lately had brought forth variants that are just as infectious and deadly.

To shelter in place means to stay indoors, except for essential reasons, and that translates to having more time at home with family, more time with household chores that we had neglected, more time to do things in the comfort of home, and more time for reflection.

Those are inadvertent luxuries born out of the pandemic. And because we have so much time in our hands, we can indulge ourselves to do things we hadn't had a moment to undertake. I for one just happily embrace it.

With still fuzzy signs of abating from the daily news reports of spikes in confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID despite inroads in the development of vaccines, the choice left was to grin and bear it, follow a strict protocol, and hope and pray for the best.

Having those in mind weans one away from too much stress and worry. There are so many creative things waiting for attention. In my case, I chose to indulge in one of the things I love most - reading.

Reading takes me to ancient and contemporary times, to lands I've never been to, to places and cultures I never knew existed; it brings awareness to people and events; it provides insights into why, for example, political and military figures had acted the way they did and changed the course of history.

It's a great way - and inexpensive at that - to reconnect back in the past and into the future. And to feel the currency of the present time.

I declined a suggestion to go digital, meaning read virtual books from electronic devices such as Kindle, preferring instead the old-fashioned way, which is reading from the physical book that I can hold and keep for as long as I want.

E-devices remove the clutter that comes with possessing books. For me, however, books are prized possessions, and having them handy requires space - space that over time grows into a small library.

That's what happened to me. Without meaning to, my collection has expanded more than a hundredfold, thanks to health protocols mandating everyone to stay at home unless there's an emergency or essential reason to go out.

Sometimes I've grown tired of spending time in front of my desktop and laptop staring for hours at the computer monitor. Not only that. I thought I had developed carpal tunnel syndrome because of prolonged and repetitive use of the mouse for computer work.

In mid-December when COVID cases rose to their highest level in the Americas, it became evident that we're all in for the long haul. At the same time, there's a proliferation of new books in the market. A majority of those books are about Donald Trump and how he exploited the presidency for his and his family's interests.

The year 2020 and the many events that came to define it, particularly the November 3 US presidential poll which saw the election of Joseph R. Biden as president, and Kamala Harris as vice president, have significantly altered the course of history in North America if not in the entire world.

The election loss of Donald Trump that had culminated from his defiance of laws and traditions has set off an avalanche of reading materials and insights detailing his excesses and declarations to stay in power for four more years. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/house-impeaches-donald-trump-second-time.html).

I initially bought two books online - Mary L. Trump's Too Much and Never Enough, and John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened. Then, to complete the picture, I got four more - Michael Cohen's Disloyal, Bob Woodward's Rage, and Michael Wolff's Siege, and Fire and Fury.

Those six books seemed not enough. So I purchased more - Vicky Ward's Kushner Inc., Craig Unger's House of Trump, House of Putin; Peter Strzok's Compromised, David Enrich's Dark Towers, The Washington Post's Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth, Jonathan Karl's Front Row at the Trump Show, Seth Abramson's Proof of Collusion, How Trump Betrayed America; Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz's To End a Presidency, The Power of Impeachment; Neal Katyal's Impeach, The Case Against Donald Trump;

Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig's A Very Stable Genius, Donald Trump's Testing of America; Malcolm Nance's The Plot to Destroy Democracy, Andrew G. McCabe's The Threat, Laurence Leamer's Mar-a-Lago, Joshua Green's Devil's Bargain, and Alan Dershowitz's The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump.

Additionally, I ordered some bestsellers such as Jeff Kosseff's The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet, Barack Obama's A Promised Land, Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill, John O. Brennan's Undaunted, Frank Figliuzzi's The FBI Way, Lynda Lopez's AOC, Bernard Harcourt's The Counterrevolution, Gary J. Byrne's Secrets of the Secret Service, Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court; and Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik'z Notorious RBG.

It'll take an enormous amount of time to read them all, but with the pandemic practically inhibiting movements other than seating in front of the computer, reading is an enjoyable and edifying alternative. The past week, in fact, had been devoted to going over the books that provided deep backgrounds about Trump.

So far, I've finished Mary L. Trump's Too Much and Never Enough, Katyal's Impeach Donald Trump, Cohen's Disloyal, and halfway through Woodward's Rage, Bolton's The Room Where It Happened, Ward's Kushner Inc., Leamer's Mar-a-Lago, and Unger's House of Trump, House of Putin.

At this juncture when Donald Trump appears to be eyeing a political comeback, the volumes I now have about him would help in understanding why so many people still believe his lies and deceptions. For journalists, it is a big challenge to dig deep and know. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).

Friday 5 February 2021

Money Losses, Incarceration Prove Too Much

Volume 2, Issue No. 56

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Friday, February 5, 2021

~ Everyone lives by a different yardstick. Some adhere to a gold standard, which means having millions in purchasing power, others believe in simple things. Some people stand by their principle, others by what's convenient for them at the risk of dehumanizing themselves. Losses are grieved over, that's human, but to put the blame on others for their misery is something else. In every fight, there's a winner and a loser. And the latter suffers.

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GOLD AS A YARDSTICK

Postscript to a Financial Inadequacy

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin".

- Proverbs 13:3

TORONTO - The embattled and embittered tabloid publisher makes a case of financial inadequacy as a sign of failure as if a pocketful of money is everything that matters and nothing else.

That yardstick is fraught with innuendoes and when articulated in the light of mounting losses, it casts aspersions on the morality of the persons involved.

The rancor is evident in the caustic message hurled at me at this stage of my professional life, a good fifty-two years since choosing a career in journalism over soldiery in the officers' corps of the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrIFXOV-7mU).

"An old man," says the deprecating email from Teresita Cusipag, Balita publisher, "who has not accomplished anything at that age was a total jinx". She was counting tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of nickels and dimes I am not endowed with and probably strung them together like a necklace dangling from her bull neck.

I hadn't had experienced that kind of vilification in the decades I've been in the active practice of journalism in the Philippines, in the United States, and here in Canada. (Related story at: https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2001/jun/14/cover-sinister-hero/?page=1&).

I thought I had hardened since my bloody baptism of fire covering the bombing of the Liberal Party rally in Manila's Plaza Miranda in August 1971. Nothing would jar me anymore after that, I said then, until this invective.

I had to mention this historic episode not to highlight my chronological age but rather to call attention to my journalistic experience. Benigno Aquino's assassination, the declaration of martial law, the People Power revolt, Cory Aquino's ascension to the presidency, the series of coups d'état, and the rise of Fidel Ramos - I covered them all as a foreign correspondent. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0AXXyPXaE).

I may not have accomplished many things money-wise, but I am the richer for the accumulated knowledge and foreign exploits as a journalist. I am now tempted to say that despite Ms. Cusipag's highfalutin titles, she's still, at her advanced age, a spring chicken in newspaper publishing, not journalism. Having worked for Balita for seven years, I can say that in all candor.

The contents of her recent email keep ringing in my ear, the vibration so pervasive as to drive me to write this article, mainly to vent and recall how I ended up in the company of bumbling illiterates.

Her message was a total putdown, a judgment rendered by an incompetent who also seemed incapable of appreciating worth beyond material wealth. It's a desperate attempt to destroy while trying to repair an image soiled by a jail sentence and hefty fines. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NGQX-SucJ4).

The unprovoked attack by Ms. Cusipag, the self-proclaimed editor at the demise in 2013 of her husband, Balita founder Ruben Cusipag, is unique to me and to three other persons, one of whom is already deceased. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/balita-tabloid-settles-costs-of.html).

In her bigoted world order, we apparently belong to that category of social blight - patay gutom, in her words, the Tagalog word that translates to dead-hungry or dirt-poor. Well, we - my siblings and I, and my parents - were not moneyed but we never pass a meal.

Since losing two of four libel cases filed against us - her, Balita, and this reporter - she has become a sulker, understandably so because she got penalized a total of nearly a million dollars in damages, and, for good measure, incarcerated for criminal contempt.

While we both lost the cases, Balita as a media entity, and Ms. Cuipag as its publisher, shouldered litigation costs and damages. In that sense, I, though the main writer of the disputed articles, was spared from paying, perhaps because of my insufficient financial standing.

In the case of Ms. Cusipag, the judge found her guilty of criminal contempt and slapped her with a further sentence of 21 days in a women's facility. She was released after serving 13 days. (Video and full story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NGQX-SucJ4).

Her bitterness is probably an offshoot of the financial loss and the subsequent prison time. In both instances, she was not entirely without fault.

In the first case, to quote from the document (Enverga v Balita Newspaper, 2017 ONSC 1635): "In fact, Cusipag admitted on discovery that it is not true that Senator Enverga committed a fraud in relation to fund raising activities and that the PCCF allegations are false".

(Full text at: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2017/2017onsc1635/2017onsc1635.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAHY3VzaXBhZwAAAAAB&resultIndex=2).

That admission was as catastrophic as its ramifications. At the very least, it contradicted my articles, the sources of the allegations, and the people who had some knowledge about the activities in question. Her statement also negated everything Balita had published.

That she was ordered to pay damages was justice. That she went to jail was also justice. To borrow from her oft-repeated expression, it is karma. Her actions had caused the effects.

In another case, Ms. Cusipag was so indignant as to suggest, without factual basis, a conspiracy and the judge's alleged partiality towards a lawyer because, in her own words posted on Facebook, "both are Jews".

That statement has worsened an already bad situation. In fact, it was one of those that violated a judge's injunction prohibiting further comments about the case.

Says Judge Frederick L. Myers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and I quote: "Ms. Cusipag was clear and express in her desire to spread her world globally and to enlist the aid of others in the media, and public figures, such as members of the Senate of Canada, to do so despite the court’s injunction.

"Her statements indicated that the initial defamatory article and Facebook posting were true but were not accepted by the court due to the death of witnesses and an unseen conspiratorial hand that undermined the legitimacy of the judge’s ruling.

"This is not conduct akin to failing to attend an examination for discovery or breach of a patent injunction that is limited in its intention and effect to the private rights of the immediate parties x x x