Why Is FCT Tongue-Tied About Its Millions?

Volume 3, Issue No. 14

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, November 27, 2021 

~ The eye of the storm is In the Filipino Centre Toronto, a financially-robust non-profit that has barricaded itself from relentless public clamor to walk the talk of transparency and accountability in the management of its millions. Three years ago, it had members of the federal and provincial parliaments and Toronto city officials as guests to the inauguration of its new digs. Are these officials aware of the years-long raging storm within the organization that they keep praising?

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IT'S ALL TALK THE TALK FOR YEARS

FCT Does Not Walk the Talk of Transparency

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody". - Agatha Christie

TORONTO - As far back as 2019 when I began my newest blog - the Filipino Web Magazine (https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/) - I've produced plenty of literature enough to give readers a pretty good perspective of Filipino Centre Toronto, its officers, and what that non-profit is all about. 

That blog and two others before it circa March 2010 (http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/) and November 2010 (http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/) are the online repositories of my newspaper and magazine articles, a hedge actually in case news sites get disbanded by their owners for whatever reason. 

They complement my top vlogs (The Filipino Web Channel, Currents & Breaking News Channel, Filipino Web Entertainment Channel, and Eats and Restos Channel) under the wing of my broadcast outlet Romar Media Canada. The four channels have combined subscribers of 11,148 and views of 6.672 million as of this writing.

A lot more of my stories had seen print but the digital version, including those in the mainstream news website Digital Journalism, had been archived or deleted without as much as a notice so I could have retrieved them. In fact, a local tabloid has purged its website of my major articles soon after my unceremonious departure.

The resort to blogging was compelling. I did not want to lose a beat as a community journalist. Rightly so, because many important events go unreported, ignored, or swept under the rug, for reasons attributable to a lack of concern, ineptitude, indifference, and personal attachments by the supposedly objective media.

Journalism is equally important as my advocacy for transparency among public officials, community organizations, and self-described leaders who take on the spotlight to promote themselves. I have no qualm presenting stories that some may view as offensive but that's exactly what investigative reporting is.

My professional and personal commitment is best exemplified in the stories I reported, some of which, in fact, had led to legal proceedings. Defamation lawsuits come with the territory. Many journalists see these suits as unavoidable risks when pursuing hot stories.

Yes, hot stories in the sense of exposé, meaning muckrake or the disclosure of scandals, frauds, and misconduct involving public officials and public figures. As an aside, I have devoted most of my time doing journalism tracking closely-guarded secrets and unlocking them for all to see.

Prior to this move to Toronto in 2010, I had documented all kinds of wrongdoing in the Filipino community in San Diego, California, my hometown for sixteen years, mostly in my own broadsheet newspaper. Once here, I continued the same kind of reporting that had put me in hot water at least four times.

No regrets though. The commitment stays strong, even if it looks like success in this one particular venture is not on the horizon, not for lack of trying but for the seeming indifference of the concerned people themselves. 

I honestly feel a creeping sense of failure in realizing one of many meaningful goals in my advocacy for transparency, which is to inculcate value in the community beyond the usual pomp and pageantry of faux crowns, glittering gowns, oversized sashes, and lavish galas.

That brings me to the Filipino Centre Toronto which has caught itself in the eye of the storm over its hardline stance to talk the talk but not walk the walk of transparency and accountability involving millions of monies in its possession.

No amount of convincing about the soundness of whistleblowers' demand for clarity can move FCT officials - Mary San Juan, president; Efren de Villa, chairman; Theresa Lumanlan, vice president; Judith Gonzales, secretary; Wendy Arena, treasurer; and its 12 directors, namely: Alvine Marasigan, Corazon Laraya Coutts, Frank Cruzet, Jerom Peralta, Lolit Tablang, Mercy Maliglig, Mhel Galleon, Nenette de Villa, Nitz Rejdik, Philip Beloso, Priscilla Tumulak, and Steffie Stephens. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWabOiCwhU).

I wonder if its funders could move them, one way or another. I wonder if politicians we elect and compensate enormously and who make a show of public support for FCT like Gary Anandasangaree, Salma Zahid, Ahmed Hussen, Shaun Chen, Rechie Valdez, and Jean Yip could. I wonder if MPP Mitzie Hunter, Toronto Mayor John Tory, and some members of the City Council could.

I also wonder if they are all aware of the seething controversy in FCT. And if they knew, would they still praise FCT and its officers like they're benevolent gifts of humanity to the Filipino community? (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/10/fct-opens-its-mouth-with-warning-to.html).

One thing, however, is certain. Their presence at FCT functions, notably in August 2018 when it inaugurated its fixer-upper of a building bought for $1.9 million cash, has emboldened FCT to disregard demands to shed light on how it is spending the $5.9 million it gained from selling its old building in downtown Toronto. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MDQoagXLlQ).

Countless articles written by Maria CJ de Villa and Cress Vasquez published in some Filipino tabloids, and by this reporter that include videos, do not seem to make a dent on FCT's stone face and steel frame. They've even tightened the flow of information. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5YUCP0xqlQ).

They are a hardy lot, to say the least. No amount of exposé, critique, photographic and video revelation could sway the FCT people to unmute themselves. If they are not hearing-impaired, why are they tongue-tied? (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).