Filipino Web Magazine: January 2023

Monday 30 January 2023

Service Beyond the Call of Duty

Volume 4, Issue No. 44

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 30, 2023

~ The sight of a flight attendant going down on his knees to comfort a woman passenger in her seat is just too touching to pass up without comment. A photo of that circumstance aboard a Delta Airlines flight has gone viral and shown on CNN. Some years ago, on a flight from Gatwick Airport in London to Barcelona, a similar situation happened. At that time, no attendant came to console a nervous passenger who howled and howled as the Vueling Airbus 320 climbed to cruising altitude. I was on that plane and documented it.

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AIR TRAVEL EXPERIENCE
A Comforting Hand Amidst the Anxiety
Attendant Calms Down Nervous Passenger

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel". - Maya Angelou

TORONTO - I was watching Don Lemon's interview on CNN with a Delta flight attendant the other day curious about why he was devoting his morning program to featuring him on his show.

The questions I had in mind soon get answered by a picture showing Floyd Dean-Shannon, the steward, on his knees comforting a passenger in her seat who apparently was getting nervous from the moment the plane took off.

The sight of him taking the passenger's hand and reassuring her everything would be alright was heartwarming, which was what accounted for the photo going viral on social media. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZLpp30arc).

The incident brought me back to London's Gatwick Airport in May 2014. I was going to Barcelona on a three-hour flight aboard Airbus 320 operated by Vueling, the airline headquartered in London which serves 122 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Whenever I travel I always prefer a window seat regardless if it's by plane, bus, or train. I'm uneasy with heights, but I still want to sit by the plane's window and look below, trying to figure out the landmarks I knew from reading maps and glossy travel magazines.

It's kind of a refuge for me from seatmates who have a habit of engaging in everyday conversation to while the time. Not for me; either I stay silent, read a book, or do some video recording. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0TW1fPyw5A).

A seat by the window reduces my perception of being claustrophobic and allows me to film what's happening outside the cabin, a habit I formed since I started my social media news outlet 13 years ago. Besides, it affords a bird's eye view of the world beneath as the plane climbs to cruising altitude.

I do agree with a travel writer who wrote about what he called "situational awareness" i.e. knowing where you are and what is going on around you.

On this Vueling flight, however, I got the aisle seat; the next two seats on my right were occupied by a young Spanish mother and her daughter. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GZ4TL0DGfE).

On my left across the aisle sat the African woman who was traveling to Barcelona to catch the five-hour-long connecting flight to her native Gambia in West Africa.

The experience shared by Dean-Shannon on CNN is very much like what happened on this trip I was in, except that there was no flight attendant like him to console the jittery passenger.

I began filming as soon as the plane taxied down the runway preparatory to takeoff. It was nice to see Gatwick, the planes in the queue waiting for their turn out to fly out, the airport workers, and the unfamiliar surroundings.

Once the plane had stabilized at an altitude of 30,000 feet, the African woman stopped screaming. Other passengers would not cease mocking her shrill cries. I then turned off my camera and talked to her.

She said she had a fear of flying. At boarding, she had informed a flight attendant about her fright so as not to cause panic on the plane when she began shrieking.

That probably explained why nobody bothered to come to her the way Dean-Shannon did with the passenger on the Delta flight.

I created the video of that episode on Vueling once I've settled at the home of a friend in the resort town of Sitges. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6stjyvQxM0).

Because there's no internet connection there I had to go to the Sitges Tourism Office (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ssVd9eb-Y) where I uploaded the video to my YouTube channel.

That video has amassed more than 830,455 views, 1,806 comments, 3.1K likes, and no dislikes from the time it was published on May 29, 2014. It is my channel's first biggest hit. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).

Thursday 26 January 2023

Balita Tabloid Braces for Legal Skirmish

Volume 4, Issue No. 43

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Thursday, January 26, 2023

~ The request for comment - a must for journalists wishing to provide balance to their story - was turning into a verbal tussle. The airing of resentment was inevitable in the process and it came as no surprise at all from someone who keeps portraying herself as a victim, thus escaping responsibility even for just a moment of pique.

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TERESITA 'TESS' CUSIPAG SAYS:
Libel Suit to Be Fought Vigorously
I'm Hiring 'Not Just Lawyers' But 'Good Ones'

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Ignorance of the law excuses no man - from practicing it". - Adison Mizner

TORONTO - A local newspaper official has indicated that she will vigorously fight a lawsuit being readied against her and the publication she publishes and edits.

Responding belatedly to questions about the notice of libel action served on her last week on behalf of businesswoman Liwayway Miranda aka Lily Hammer, Teresita "Tess" Cusipag of Balita tabloid said she would be hiring "not just lawyers" but "good ones instead".

That statement is an allusion to her loss in two defamation lawsuits years ago where she had to shell out nearly $1-million in litigation costs.

Though this reporter was also a defendant in those suits, it was Ms. Cusipag, Balita newspaper, and Balita Media Inc. that were found guilty of criminal contempt of court. Judge Frederick L. Myers sentenced her to 21 days' incarceration of which she served 13 days in a women's facility.

"I learned my lessons. being thrifty and underestimating," she says, the resentment at being hailed to court again quite evident in her emailed response. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NGQX-SucJ4).

Ms. Cusipag had complained about one of her lawyers in the old suit who had treated her like an ATM, asking for money every now and then without as much as delivering on his legal responsibility to her. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ykwazA-WE).

"I was told to use my money to spend and hire good ones instead," she states in a brief reply to an earlier question. Part of the twin losses in 2016 and 2018 had been attributed to a lackluster defense of the cases.

In the present instance, Ms. Cusipag is being held legally accountable for publishing an article that cast aspersion on the reputation, character, and integrity of the business person she had named in the article as Liwayway Miranda Hammer.

She's also known as Lily Hammer, the managing partner in a labor management company called A&L Hammer Workforce Management, which has now been officially inoperational. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WONotKxTTWw).

Despite being cleared by the Superior Court of Ontario of charges of illegal recruitment and misrepresentation in 2019 and reported by both mainstream and community media, Ms. Cusipag still published in December 2022 an article headlined "BEWARE... Toronto scammers abound around us".

Ms. Cusipag claimed in that article that Ms. Hammer is a "notorious alleged scammer who up to this time is still hunted by victims to serve court documents". (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/scavenging-dumpsters-is-not-way-to-look.html).

Note that three years had elapsed between the time Ms. Hammer was cleared by the court (that's 2019) and the publication of Ms. Cusipag's article last month. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

For a publisher and editor so-called, it is unpardonable to commit such an egregious mistake, if mistake it is. Was it a malicious and deliberate act of mischief out of hate, anger, and jealousy?

Ms. Cusipag appears to be bothered by the stream of stories that put her on the spot, insinuating that she was being harassed.

"you (sic) keep on bothering me as we work in silence and these are all being saved by my new lawyers," she complains.

She also asked this reporter to pay up, saying "My lawyer . . . wanted me to remind you that you owe balita (sic) $1M for your share of the lawsuits and the conviction".

"$1M is a lot of money and should be paid. Show integrity and take care of your legal responsibilities," she adds.

To which I replied: "Wish me luck. Almost every week, or whenever my pocket permits, I buy lotto max tickets in the hope I could match your vaunted millions.

Wednesday 25 January 2023

Libel Suit Readied vs. Balita and its Editor

Volume 4, Issue No. 42

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Wednesday, January 25, 2023

~ In December 2019, the Superior Court of Ontario, acting on a motion by Crown prosecutors, basically cleared Filipino businesswoman Lily Hammer of any wrongdoing. Yet three years to the day in 2022, the Balita tabloid reported otherwise in a hit piece written by Tess Cusipag, its publisher and editor. Last week, a notice of action for libel was served on her at her home office in Markham, Ontario.

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NOTICE OF ACTION FOR LIBEL SERVED LAST WEEK
Balita Tabloid, Editor Face New Libel Suit
Case Based on Regurgitated Article vs. Lily Hammer

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." - William Shakespeare

TORONTO - Five weeks ago, I wrote an article based on a published report in Balita that had resurrected an old story from a few years ago headlined "BEWARE . . . Toronto scammers abound around us" by Tess Cusipag, the tabloid's publisher and editor, not knowing it would set off a quick reaction from one of the individuals named in her report. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/scavenging-dumpsters-is-not-way-to-look.html).

Today, January 25, I have been reliably informed that a libel notice has been served on Ms. Cusipag notifying her that she and Balita as a media company will be charged with libel for allegedly defaming businesswoman Liwayway Miranda, also known by her married name as Lily Hammer.

In her piece appearing in the paper's Dec. 16-31, 2022 issue, Ms. Cusipag identified the offended person as Liwayway Miranda Hammer who also goes by the name Lily Hammer. (Balita article at: https://www.balita.ca/beware-toronto-scammers-abound-around-us/).

A process server of the City of Toronto has signed affidavits showing he had delivered late afternoon on Friday, January 20, 2023, the notice as required by the Libel and Slander Act, R.S.O, 1990, c. L. 12 at her home office in the northeastern suburb of Markham.

Sought for comment early today, Ms. Cusipag has no immediate reaction as of this writing. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ykwazA-WE).

In Ms. Cusipag's article, she claimed, without presenting proof, that Ms. Hammer is a "notorious alleged scammer who up to this time is still hunted by victims to serve court documents".

Ms. Cusipag also implicated a paralegal named Jun Saludares who she called "soon to be a practicing lawyer" and quoted him as purportedly saying that Ms. Hammer is "the summa cum laude of scammers in Toronto". (Background story of Saludares at: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onlst/doc/2019/2019onlsth12/2019onlsth12.html).

By her unproven and undocumented account, Ms. Cusipag alleged, in her own words, that "Lily Hammer has hundreds (of victims) and we now lost counts and are still coming". She continued: "We calculated millions of dollars collected from applicants all over the world and are now asking for refunds and to get justice".

Her claims notwithstanding, none of the "hundreds" - either victims or applicants - has come forward to document their complaints, at least to this reporter's knowledge.

It's incomprehensible how Ms. Cusipag came up with such a huge amount in saying, in her words, "we (who is we?) calculated millions of dollars collected".

This allegation by Ms. Cusipag totally ignores the decision of the Superior Court of Ontario to drop all the cases against Ms. Hammer after Crown prosecutors had decided to withdraw the same ostensibly for lack of evidence. (Video and full story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).

That decision on December 11, 2019, basically clears Ms. Hammer of the charges of human trafficking and misrepresentation Crown prosecutors had levied against her, which were based on the testimonies of workers who had escaped from their farm work. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JSfIOTN0uk and full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/12/cabal-of-mushroom-pickers-exposed-in.html)

Multiple news outlets, mainstream and community newspapers, online and print, including the Toronto Star, CityNews, Inquirer, and Filipino Web Channel, covered and reported the court proceedings on that day. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx7ZOhfQZ70).

Why Ms. Cusipag chose to pass over those news developments in 2019 and preferred regurgitating last month what has been proven to be an old yarn defies explanation.

I have warned in my December 20, 2022 article that what she republished in that issue of Balita could potentially expose her to a lawsuit. Well, my hunch appears to be coming true. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).

Monday 23 January 2023

NHCP Explains 'Deliberate Omission' in Rizal Marker in Toronto

Volume 4, Issue No. 41

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Monday, January 23, 2023

~ A top Historical Commission official in Manila admits to purposely keeping out essential information from a historical marker attached to a bust of national hero Jose Rizal in Toronto's Earl Bales Park. The metal tablet had earlier been rejected in the City of Markham for lacking important particulars to fully understand the hero's martyrdom in the hands of Spanish colonizers.

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NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION SAYS:
Omission in Rizal Marker 'Deliberate'
'Adulatory Narrative' Weighs More

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Honest history is the weapon of freedom." - Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

TORONTO - Some important details about the life of Jose Rizal, the acknowledged national hero of the Philippines, were purposely left out in the historical marker recently installed at his bust in this city's Earl Bales Park in North York district.

The explanation came from a top official of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) in Manila amidst a brewing controversy over the marker that had been originally intended for the life-size monument in the neighboring City of Markham.

"A few biographical details were deliberately omitted in the text in favor of a more adulatory narrative," said Carmi Arevalo, the officer in charge of NHCP's Office of the Executive Director. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkiSTz-tpCU).

She was in Toronto with another official, Eleonor B. Samonte, project development officer, for the unveiling of the marker seven months ago on June 22, a published press release from the Philippine Consulate here said.

"Such is the case for historical markers for Rizal installed in the North American continent, in which he only passed through in a transcontinental train journey in April-May 1888 en route to London," she explained.

In contrast, Toronto's Park and Recreation, however, said in a letter to the North York Community Council on March 23, 1998, that "Dr. Rizal is said to have been the first Filipino to set foot on Canadian soil, on May 12, 1888".

The omission of some meaningful items, which local history aficionados claim leads to ambiguity, did not sit well with the Filipino Canadian community in Markham where artist and journalist Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado had sculpted Rizal's bronze statue that now stands in that city's Luneta Garden. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/07/).

"The text of the marker installed is based on a pro forma text for a specific subset of historical markers installed in honor of Jose Rizal in foreign countries, specifically in places where he never set foot on and where the installation of such was only due to a monument being erected in his honor there by the local Filipino community," Ms. Arevalo clarified in an email to this reporter last week. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3M0bPelv8).

After the marker - described as "slipshod, grotesque, and inappropriate" - was rejected in Markham, it soon found its way to Earl Bales Park, the site of Rizal's bust erected there in 1998 to celebrate the centennial of Philippine independence from Spain, the country's colonizer for more than three centuries.

The choice of Earl Bales Park for the bust was dictated by these considerations: it's a favorite site of the Filipino community, and it is centrally located and easily accessed. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gquI4L1gmMQ).

Spain's part and responsibility in the execution by musketry of Rizal in what is now Luneta Park in the heart of Manila was evidently lost in the NCHP's historical marker.

(Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/01/distortions-in-rizal-marker-prompts-non.html).

"The text was composed to be as concise as possible while still capturing the significance, magnitude and extent of Rizal's role and contributions in the making of the Filipino nation, for the benefit of non-Filipinos who may otherwise be unfamiliar with his life and works," according to Ms. Arevalo.

Ms. Arevalo also took exception to certain allegations in an earlier reporting. "The National Historical Commission of the Philippines does not and will never engage in what you claim to be 'Historical Distortion'," she stressed.

"The omission of a few minute details - information which can easily be verified in textbooks and other grey literature - in a historical marker is not the same as making false claims or deliberately distorting or invalidating established historical facts to push a malicious agenda," she stated.

"The NHCP will never tolerate, much less propagate, fake news, as doing so is antithetical to our mandate as the government agency tasked to safeguard our country's history," Ms. Arevalo concluded.

According to knowledgeable sources, the unveiling of the marker at Earl Bales Park was just a pretext for what they claimed was a "junket" by the two NHCP officials in their travel to Canada.

The event in June 2022 was officiated by Consul General Orontes Castro and some representatives of the local Knights of Rizal.

"Remember this Knights of Rizal is all titles and ranks and uniforms and empty talks and photo ops," the sources claimed. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawXMwwUVOU). (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).

Friday 20 January 2023

Big Surprise! FCT Releases 2022 Annual Report

Volume 4, Issue No. 40

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Friday, January 20, 2023

~ A change of tact, yes. But it's still the same old, same old. The facade had a little bit of improvisation, well, for appearances' sake. A token gesture it is. Not much illumination on keeping millions in Filipino Centre Toronto's vault, and how its officials are spending them. No enlightenment either on why FCT continues to dodge legitimate issues raised by whistleblowers and concerned members. There are more questions than what the annual report answers.

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FILIPINO CENTRE TORONTO CHANGES TACT
FCT's Annual Report: Rich or Poor?
To Understand Its Contents, Get An Expert

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Your transparency is just another of your disguises, isn't it? You doubt your value. Don't run from who you are." - Napz Cherub Pellazo

TORONTO - Filipino Centre Toronto appears to show uncharacteristic goodwill in releasing this week its 2022 annual report detailing, without explanation, its current state, its assets, revenues, and expenditures for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Made available to the local press without being asked or prodded - a big change in itself - it gives the impression that FCT is opening up on the most important piece of information any company or corporation, public or private, usually keeps in lock and key, and hidden from public scrutiny, which was what FCT had done in the past.

Times must have changed through the years from 2017 when widespread clamor rose to a peak for FCT to disclose particulars of the $5.9-million hard cash it realized from the sale of its old edifice, which had dwindled down by at least $678,000 paid out to previously-unknown claimants.

But wait, hold on, not too fast with the compliments. For us to decipher the figures in the report, one needs expert eyes, a deep understanding of accounting, and a working knowledge of how FCT operates as a non-profit organization endowed by government grants.

For many people, including myself, the numbers in the report are without meaning unless given full context. Of what use is a financial statement if the table of numbers blurs understanding?

To interpret each entry, one has to rely on pundits who, I suppose, FCT consults with, or employs, either to clarify or, more likely, to obfuscate things. Confounding problematic issues have given rise to whistleblowers who persist to this day.

Bared dry and devoid of clarification, the release of the annual report is, to me, merely a public relations gimmick, a clear attempt to look transparent to rehabilitate FCT's unfavorable image.

I asked Tony San Juan, the retired teacher and now a practicing publicist tasked to disseminate the report who in FCT, in his judgment, would be responsive to questions.

He gave me three names - Efren de Villa, chairman; Mary Ann San Juan (no relation to Tony San Juan), president; and a certain Sophia Arellano, apparently a newcomer who now belongs to FCT's inner circle. (Video and story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZFXKzvQqYY).

Arellano is one of the newbies (there are several on the board) in FCT who carries the portentous title of "marketing coordinator". I still have to interact with her to see if she has not been sworn yet to the code of omertà, which I believe is the bible of choice in FCT.

Since the tandem of de Villa and San Juan took over FCT leadership, the two officials are uncommunicative in practically everything about FCT, especially if it concerns money. I joked that they must have permanently zipped their mouths except when eating. (Related video and story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5YUCP0xqlQ).

For instance, I want to know how FCT ended up paying a total of $108,503.59 (could be higher) for "professional fees" for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and up to October 2022, which is presumably the cutoff date of the report for that year.

One other question I am seeking an answer to is the amount spent by FCT for "office expenses" totaling $118,252.80 for the same four-year period stated in the report. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/09/clear-filipino-centre-torontos-finances.html).

Perhaps Arellano's coming presages a transformation with the way FCT looks beyond its one-story office building in Scarborough, and the public image it wants to cultivate, i.e. to be more reactive and forthcoming to please the grant givers.

Relative to that, FCT received a huge grant of $125,064 in 2019 but disbursed $3,400.59 more for an expenditure of $124,464.59 to secure grant monies. Spend more to earn less, is that it? my practical mind asks.

The press release about the 2022 annual report put out by Tony San Juan upon request by Arellano appears to be part of a new thrust starting this year. That is an indication that FCT is embarking on a press and public relations campaign to furbish FCT in the eyes of the media and the public.

Wednesday 18 January 2023

Distortions in Rizal Marker Prompt Non-Acceptance

Volume 4, Issue No. 39

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Wednesday, January 18, 2023

~ A "historical marker" now attached to the bust of Philippine hero Jose Rizal had been previously rejected by unnamed citizens of the City of Markham, calling it "slipshod, grotesque, and inappropriate" if installed on the sculpture created by artist with a cause and journalist Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado. The marker was reportedly "ordered" by Consul General Orontes Castro from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in Manila. Once it was spurned, it found its way into Toronto's Earl Bales Park and was unveiled in an official ceremony.

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'SLIPSHOD,' 'GROTESQUE,' AND 'INAPPROPRIATE'
City of Markham Rejects Rizal Marker
PHL Gov't Officials Mum on Issue

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“News is what people want to keep hidden and everything else is publicity." - Bill Moyers

TORONTO - Expunging historical data from the official narrative appears to have been sanctioned by at least two Philippine government entities in the "historical marker" recently installed at the foot of Jose Rizal's bust in this city.

The metal marker came from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and was unveiled on June 22, 2022, three days after the hero's 161st birth anniversary on June 19.

Two NHCP officials from Manila attended the event at Earl Bales Park, namely: Carminda R. Arevalo, deputy executive director; and Eleonor B. Samonte, project development officer, according to a published press release from the Philippine Consulate here.

The City of Toronto was represented by Councillor James Pasternak while Consul General Orontes V. Castro stood for the Philippine government. Some members of the Knights of Rizal (KOR) also officiated at the ceremony.

The unveiling of the marker went largely unnoticed until photographs from the Consulate appeared recently in news outlets which showed the marker lacking the basic information about Rizal's execution by firing squad on December 30, 1896. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gquI4L1gmMQ).

The missing information should have been spotted easily by the three Philippine officials - Ms.Arevalo, Ms. Samonte, and Consul General Castro - and the KOR "knights" who, we assume are well-informed about Rizal, his execution, and executioners.

In fact when I saw the photographs, I hurriedly went to the park and took pictures and videos knowing a week had passed since the commemorative 126th death anniversary on December 30, 2022. Fresh and plastic flowers were still there, having withstood the cold, snow, and rain.

Questions arise as to why the NHCP would leave out mentioning Spain, the Philippine colonizer for over three centuries, which figured in the death sentencing; Rizal's date and place of birth; where he was executed by who, among others.

The NHCP did not respond to questions. A KOR official was silent on the issue. And as of this writing, the Consulate has yet to answer questions.

What I learned from sources familiar with the matter is quite unbelievable.

NHCP's historical marker installed at Rizal's bust in Earl Bales Park was a reject, a discard unnamed officials had declined to accept for lack of essential information about the hero's martyrdom. My sources called it "slipshod, grotesque, and inappropriate".

Consul General Castro apparently requested the marker for unknown reasons. Its installation justified the two NHCP officials' trip - actually a junket, says one source - to Toronto.

Knowledgeable quarters said the marker was originally intended for the life-size bronze monument in Markham sculpted by Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado, the artist with a cause, and journalist, who resides in that northeastern city.

(Videos and full story at:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak87ArSXQPk

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOR7AcJ-ASk

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfjkHrrpaWY)

Mogado's sculpture is touted to be the first in Canada of such a grand scale - 6 feet 3 inches in height, which is taller than Rizal's stature of 5 feet three inches. That makes it literally bigger than life.

Another plausible reason Markham spurned the historical marker, sources explained, is the optics of it. "When attached, it (the marker) gives the impression the Philippine government had something to do with erecting the monument," sources averred.

It's the Filipino Canadian Community in Markham that actually funded the monument in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday, which was in 2017, and the 2019 Philippine independence day in June of that year. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCR38016rgU).

"At best," sources said, "the marker at Earl Bales Park should be removed for historical distortion, and for defacing an otherwise beautiful Rizal monument".

The Knights of Rizal did not escape these scathing remarks from my sources.

"About KOR, what do they care about the significance of what's in the marker, or in being protective of the beautiful monument?

(Related videos at:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HmHY6XqLbQ

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nJQPXrjbm4)

"Starry-eyed, all they care about is to be on good terms with the big guy ConGen (Consul General Castro), so he can publicize them in his press releases and reports.

"Remember this KOR is all titles and ranks and uniforms and empty talks and photo ops," the sources claimed.

The Rizal bust in Earl Bales Park was a gift of the Philippine government to the City of Toronto to commemorate the 100th year of independence in June 1998. It is made of cold-cast bronze and measures 2.6 ft. x 2 ft. x 1 ft. and is mounted on a 6.6 feet granite pedestal. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).

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Editor's notes:

I wrote the article below in April 2016 following the attacks on me by the KOR "supremos" in Manila who reacted angrily at the publication of my interviews with key KOR officials in Toronto. - Romy Marquez

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Volume 10, 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 . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Monday, April 4, 2016

~ In the 19th century, Jose Rizal was fighting for justice and equity for the Philippines, which had been colonized by imperial Spain since the mid-1500s. A group of Rizal believers in Manila and Toronto, Canada, however, seems to be at a loss, aping his executioners rather than fighting for the cause he passionately believed in. The "supremos" they are called, a select group of men occupying positions in the Supreme Council in the Knights of Rizal who are apparently inclined to exercise some form of tyranny over its members. Their overbearing attitude is causing resentment in Toronto.

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KNIGHTS OF RIZAL

The Dictatorship of the 'Supremos' in Manila

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, Filipino Web Channel

“It is not the criminals who arouse the hatred of others, but the men who are honest.”

― José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere

TORONTO - There's an evident distrust by the "supremos" of the Knights of Rizal in Manila of my credentials as a reporter after I posted my no-holds-barred interviews with KOR Toronto chapter officials who bitterly complained against appointive representatives in this Canada's largest city.

The KOR Supreme Council puts the blame on KOR Toronto for its failure "to check the background and track record of the 'reporter' who had lived in San Diego South (sic) County who egged them on to be 'starring' in his camera for a YouTube release . . . "

I am not the story in this evolving KOR controversy as my role is limited to the interview, but I get faulted for giving KOR Toronto officials the launchpad to air their grievances on my Filipino Web Channel on YouTube. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FilipinoWebChannel/featured). That's a reaction typical of the ignorant.

" . . . They were given the wrong impression by the 'reporter' that in 'freely expressing their opinions' they would have all the rights and advantages and the organization would have no recourse whatsoever but to go by what has been suggested to them on pain of bad publicity blackmail . . . "

The KOR "supremos" are understandably upset, for no kind words were spoken by the interviewees, namely: Chito Collantes, senior adviser; Juancho Delos Santos, KOR Toronto commander; and knights Ed Deang and Edwin Esteba. Also present during the March 5 interview were Ben Ferrer, Ronnie Gonzaga and Luis Caragan.

The videos of that interview are here:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawXMwwUVOU;

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd6UA_f99Ns;

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HmHY6XqLbQ;

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOZB9l8xjOk

Collantes had earlier indicated his group's willingness to talk about KOR issues in Toronto that have been festering since many months ago. I said I'm prepared to conduct an interview so long as they would tell the truth and the proceedings fully recorded on camera.

I didn't know anything about KOR or its many chapters and members. I get to see them only on two occasions, which are perfunctory at best - the birth and death anniversaries of national hero Jose Rizal - at Earl Bales Park wearing their uniforms. I honestly doubt if all the members knew what Rizal epitomizes. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyfWQhZEIE).

KOR was the last thing I want to cover and write about. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt. And when they started telling their stories and the scathing manner they were being recounted, it gave me pause. These people have legitimate complaints.

Perhaps the quarrelsome nature of those complaints was one reason the "supremos" sidestepped the issues brought to them. So instead of addressing them, they kicked out Delos Santos and suspended Collantes, Deang and Esteba. Then they added me, in their own words, the "reporter . . . who egged them on". (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nJQPXrjbm4).

Attacking me was uncalled for. I was just the messenger. As the saying goes "Don't shoot the messenger", meaning don't blame the bearer of bad news. In any case, I'm not one to run away, and if need be, confront them face to face.

Their allusion to San Diego - my home for 16 years before I moved to Toronto in 2010 - was mischievous; it hints of what my critics had constantly assailed me with. I knew I created enemies there because of the many exposés I did in my own newspaper.

The "supremos" should train their critical eye on what some people did on Jose Rizal if they were really intent on protecting his teachings and ideals. In San Diego and in Los Angeles, Rizal has been reduced to a fishmarket magnet to attract customers to Chinese-owned supermarkets.. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf8TM-Ff_iI)

In Madrid, Spanish authorities there had a better appreciation of the hero, maybe to atone for the hero's firing-squad execution in Manila in December 1896. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz3xi8NbGOk) Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXK9MtxSchE).

Instead of trying to destroy my credibility, the "supremos" should look at themselves in the mirror and find out why their chapter in Toronto is seething with rage over their appointed officials who I can categorize as fake leaders. Do they have a track record of leadership other than licking the behind of friends in positions of responsibility?

I may be a reporter (not a "reporter" in quotations) but I am a journalist with broad international and local experience in different media platforms in the last four decades at least.

That some people in Manila, San Diego and lately in Toronto are not familiar with my name is not their fault; it's more likely their exposure to media is limited by their preference for entertainment stories and the like and not for serious stuff.

I don't blame those who do not know me, after all, a reporter is a reporter, not a celebrity, who writes and reports the news as it happens. In my situation, the job goes beyond reporting. For those unaware, I also do investigate the news, the people behind the news and the reasons for the news.

It's called investigative journalism, "a type of journalism," Cambridge dictionary says, "that tries to discover information of public interest that someone is trying to hide". It's also referred to as accountability reporting, "a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption or corporate wrongdoing," according to Wikipedia.

Even as I find myself in hot waters, threatened with physical harm and lawsuits and viciously attack online doing that kind of work, I love investigative journalism. I love exposing the crooks, the con artists, the fake leaders, the fraudsters, the swindlers, the pretend officials in government, the thieves, the racketeers, etc.

Not surprisingly, those affected by my exposés consider me fair target. I had that kind of experience in San Diego where I introduced investigative journalism on the community level. Currently, I'm engaged in that same line of reporting in Toronto to the extent that lawsuits upon lawsuits are brought against me. I'm not scared, not even intimidated. (Related story at: http://www.balita.ca/2014/12/15/attorney-general-takes-initiative-ontario-moves-to-minimize-frivolous-lawsuits/).

My absence from the Manila press after martial law was declared in 1972 did not mean retirement. Far from it, as I joined the foreign press corps and reported for the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun and the Hamburg, Germany-based Deutsche Presse Agentur. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0AXXyPXaE)

For those used to reading Manila newspapers, some would reasonably assume that I've changed career course. The fact, however, is that my media presence was most noticeable beyond the geographic boundaries of the Philippines.

My media existence expanded from the Philippines to Asia through the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's second largest daily. With DPA, the German News Agency, I had a world audience. Unless Manila periodicals subscribe to DPA at that time, for example, regular readers would not know where I was.

From 1969 when I started as a staff reporter for The Manila Chronicle (now defunct), I have not stopped practising the only edifying job I know.

From the Chronicle, I moved to the Times Journal as a business writer under Jake Macasaet and later with Tony Lopez. Then I worked as a stringer for foreign news agencies while at the same time contributed to the Manila Bulletin's Business section under Art Sales and Lori Cabanes.

When I moved to San Diego, California in the early 90's, I also reported for ABS-CBN's Balitang America based in San Francisco. That gave me the opportunity to re-engage in broadcast journalism.

I'm stating all these detailed information only because my credentials as a reporter are being held in doubt by the "supremos" of KOR in Manila. I did not mean to boast but I am sufficiently knowledgeable and skilled in journalism to be able to last this long.

I am no spring chicken in this game, whether it be on local or foreign coverage of news events in the Philippines, North America and Europe. The truth is I've been writing for the longest time. Track record? Indeed it is! (Copyright 2016 and 2023. All Rights Reserved).