Volume 4, Issue No. 38
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 16, 2023
~ True friends, those who will stand by you through good and bad times, are a rarity. If they come into your life, keep them like the precious gifts that they are. In an extraordinary show of emotion, this Filipino businesswoman broke down teary-eyed during an interview while paying tribute to friends who remain loyal and supportive throughout her worst ordeal in Toronto.
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A TEST OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP
Caring Friends Are Invaluable Gift
They Stick Around in Good and Bad Times
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
“When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter." - Chinese proverb
TORONTO - "Ang tawag ko sa kanila tunay na kaibigan".
Since I heard those words spoken by a tearful Filipino businesswoman at the tail-end of a television interview some time ago, the deep and full meaning continues to haunt me. It's so profound, to say the least.
"I call them true friends" is how it translates into English, but its true spirit - the subtle nuance of an inner feeling baring itself - is best expressed in Tagalog.
Those words resonate with me personally. My own particular experience in the United States and Canada for the past 30 years echoes that sentiment. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/friendships-in-filipino-community.html).
Admittedly, I have a handful of friends, trusted friends I will keep forever, for the very same reasons stated in that interview. Having good friends, to me, is like being wedded to a loved one - through thick and thin, for better or worse, in sickness and in health . . .
It was Lily Miranda aka Lily Hammer, the businessperson, unloading herself before the camera to an unseen and unnamed interviewer at the studio of Filipino TV in the northeastern city of Markham, Ontario. (Video at: https://www.facebook.com/filipinotvcanada/videos/2850581778306924/).
I actually had several interviews with her in a coffee shop by herself, and with friends in restaurants, but having a conversation in a public setting was not quite useful in prompting her to talk, revealing herself, as she did in the relative privacy of a workshop. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JSfIOTN0uk).
She was recounting her ordeal as a newly-arrived caregiver in 2009, then as an astute entrepreneur managing her own workforce management company, and, as the firm grew to become a major labor supplier in Ontario, her unexpected brush with the law.
The encounter with law enforcement authorities, virtually the Government of Canada, was full of ironies. She began fighting for her life and dignity while dispensing the same in equal measure to hundreds of folks seeking economic opportunities far better than their near-poverty status in the Philippines and elsewhere.
Some of those people were the same ones that betrayed her. A driver-turned-community organizer sabotaged her and the company. A member of a left-leaning organization in Toronto had tried to corrupt her. An admitted fraudster colluded with disgruntled workers (runaways they are called) who fabricated false testimonies. A paralegal acting lawyer-like without saying she had been stripped of her license. There are more.
They, including the federal Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). were all trying to prove - unsuccessfully - that Lily had engaged in human trafficking, illegal recruitment of workers, and misrepresentation. None of those was true. (Related story at: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/12/11/human-trafficking-charges-dropped-against-migrant-worker-recruiter.html).
Unable to show the allegations beyond doubt for lack of evidence, Crown prosecutors decided to give up. In a complete reversal of their positions, they moved to drop the cases against Lily at a Superior Court hearing on December 11, 2019. (Video and full story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprwiFQiLjs).
Dropping the charges means wiping the slate clean for Lily. Clean as a whistle, as the saying goes. However, it did not end her ordeal, as it should be. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/scavenging-dumpsters-is-not-way-to-look.html).
A Toronto tabloid is trying to whip up a frenzy with renewed attacks on her. Instead of letting sleeping dogs lie, the fortnightly rag went wild with an offensive disguised as a warning against scammers.
I believe it was a regurgitation of an old story that failed to gain traction. Wanting in cold, hard facts, the paper was driven by hate, envy, and jealousy, and corrupted by an "elite" gang of scammers that condemned Lily's alleged infractions.
Yet all this time since December 2019, the truth is out there for everybody to see, read, and watch. Newspapers, radio, television, and social media outlets had a field day reporting the news of what amounted to an acquittal.
The mainstream Toronto Star bannered the dismissal of her case in its GTA section. And so did a number of regional newspapers in Ontario. The Filipino Web Channel covered the court proceedings and published its own articles and video stories. CityNews was there. The same with the Inquirer, a Manila-based paper. So what's the beef?
She tried to regain her composure, and in between sobs, she thanked her employer, a dozen or so friends here and in Manila, and the many mushroom pickers who believed in her innocence and hung on, offering help any way they can.
"They all stood by me. They never faltered in supporting me. 'Ang tawag ko sa kanila tunay na kaibigan'. Without them, I'm done," Lily acknowledges. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).
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