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:
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:
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.”
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:
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).
Hi Romy,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to read your professional experiences as a journalist. The first time I met was in 2000 NaFFAA Congress at Bally Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. You and brother Knight Bobby Reyes were in attendance. Do you remember that?
Anyway, KOR in Las Vegas has been in a long hiatus due to some disputes you don't care to listen. I am one of your readers just to keep myself informed on the goings on in Toronto. Keep up the good work Romy.
Martin Celemin
Las Vegas