Filipino Web Magazine : June 2023

Wednesday, 28 June 2023

PAG's Art Exhibit: A Celebration of Filipino Genius

Volume 4, Issue No. 66

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of Romar Media Canada, 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 Wednesday, June 28, 2023

~ The best creative minds the community has yet to fully discover are quietly transforming the image and perceptions of Filipinos in Canada, specifically in the Greater Toronto Area where they thrive almost anonymously. Two dozen artists - painters, sculptors, musicians, and writers - gathered for a celebration of Filipino genius dubbed Annual Art Exhibition by the 35-year-old Philippine Artists Group at the Neilson Park Creative Centre this past weekend. And it was rewarding, to say the least.

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P.A.G.'s CELEBRATION OF FILIPINO GENIUS

The Gift to the Community by Filipino Artists

Two Dozen Creative Minds Present the Best of Filipinos

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Creativity is intelligence having fun". - Albert Einstein

TORONTO - Not until I attended the formal opening of the art exhibit by Filipino artists on Saturday, June 24, did I realize I was missing an important component of the Filipino diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area.

I was very much unaware of it before were it not for the invitation by writer Michelle Chermaine Ramos, one of the participating artists in the exhibition organized by the Philippine Artists Group (PAG) of Canada. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FT2kEZfls).

I'm truly grateful for that invite, or how else would I know that beneath the uninspiring, entertainment-driven festivals we're exposed to every year, there's one outstanding event - and I'd like to call it the festival of creative minds - that captures our heritage and culture, and highlights the best among us.

That alone would change how we as a people, as highly-educated immigrants, and as major supplier of workers in many industries are seen by mainstream Canada. More than muscle, we have the brains - that's a fact our artists have demonstrated.

Whether it's painting, sculpture, or music - those three forms of art were all there in one roof at the Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpW15YmWFg).

Being in that event changed my perspective of the Filipino community. For one, we have a treasure trove of talents and creativity which is, and this is my personal belief, hardly publicized or brought to the fore.

For another, the creative genius of Filipinos does not dwell on street or food festivals that many of us are fond of to the neglect of more meaningful and stimulating pursuits that say we are as good if not better than those who view us as second- or third-rate citizens. They're there in the quiet surroundings of art galleries.

Our festivals purport to promote our culture. In reality, culture is a secondary objective. The prospect of reaping huge amount of monies is the only consideration to engaging in such ventures.

That's why we're seeing two organizations fighting bitterly for the right to hold a festival, not for our sake, but for the potential of lining pockets.

The art exhibit has given me pause on keeping an eye on local events as a journalist. For the past 12 years covering street festivals, beauty contests, fundraisings disguised as charities for the poor, etc., it left me wondering and seeking for relevance.

In hindsight, I should have devoted more time to the arts that enrich my knowledge than to festivals that cater to the egotistical interests of organizers and their patrons.

There were many revelations at the PAG event. I was amazed at the warm fellowship, the welcoming friendliness of everyone, and the coming together for the real cause of promoting the arts by Filipino artists.

The jolly good fellow artist Frank Cruzet is among those in my short list of forever friends. He's endearingly called "general" as a recognition of his long service as a ranking police officer in Makati, the Philippines' financial capital, and my urban hometown. (Frank at: https://philippineartists.com/frank-cruzet/).

When we first met during my first year in Toronto, Frank thought I was an undercover detective or a secret intelligence agent mainly because of how I looked - brawny, tall with long ponytail, and eyeglasses which, to him, are disguises worn by his operatives. That was funny and it gave us a good laugh.

I had not experienced this kind of genuine bonhomie of friends and strangers in a dozen years reporting about and for the Filipino community.

One particular happening that startled me was the spontaneous performance on the piano by the musically-inclined accountant, Mrs. Cielo Ramos, Michelle Chermaine's mom, who just played and played classical Filipino and contemporary music.

No sooner was she on the third set than every music lover in the hall came over, - like a moth to a flame - surrounded her and sang their hearts out accompanying her piano rendition. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74OZCliSBEU).

For me, it was the best part of the program that was unprogrammed. Unconstrained amidst a gathering of like-minded people, the piano playing and the singing went on and on until it was closing time.

Not only was Mrs. Ramos alone, her music inescapably filling the auditorium, another pianist emerged from among the guests, a young guy named Ron Adea who rendered Chopin's Nocturne C in Sharp Minor and Franz Schubert's Ave Maria, the latter making me tear up. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpPgC5qlN5g).

I felt very much at home among this bunch of people, some of whom I perceived, wrongly, as political enemies as a result of my investigative reporting. That day, everything was set aside. Camaraderie prevailed.

That event was not something to be passed over. Once a year the community's cloistered treasures surfaced from what seemed like a long stupor and then regaled us with bursts of talents and creativity.

I agree with Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, who said: "The community, the sense of humility, the sharing of stories, the enriching the fabric of community and society with all the richness of Filipino heritage and culture - this is the fundamental of a healthy community".

Tuesday, 20 June 2023

Filipinos Guaranteed To Be Tailenders in Mayoral Contest

Volume 4, Issue No. 65

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Tuesday, June 20, 2023

~ Pollsters listed six top runners for mayor of Toronto, namely: Olivia Chow, Mark Saunders, Ana Bailao, Josh Matlow, Brad Bradford, and Mitzie Hunter. Nowhere is there a mention of the tailenders - the dozens and dozens of dreamers who want to serve in their own right. Of the 102 candidates, two Filipinos are statistically guaranteed to land at the bottom of the pile. But credit is due for their daring.

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BY-ELECTION IS ON MONDAY, JUNE 26

Front-Runners and Tailenders for Toronto Mayor

Of the 102 Dreamers, Two Are Filipinos

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves". - Thomas Merlon

TORONTO - The city will elect a new mayor on Monday, June 26, and whoever wins will serve the remainder of resigned John Tory's four-year term which ends until the next general elections in October 2026.

The disgraced 69-year-old mayor quit on February 17, just a few months after he was elected for a third term in October 2022 over an admitted extramarital affair with a staff member 38 years his junior. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN7Sa7gnlJo).

Two aspects of the poll make it an interesting exercise, especially for Filipinos. One, two Filipinos have thrown their hat in the ring, namely, a photographer named Jose Baking, and the well-liked realtor Willie Reodica. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40XJ63VWGuM).

And two, the incredibly high number of candidates, at 102. That figure is literally a giant leap considering that in the October 2022 elections, there were only 31 candidates vying for the post.

Though the attempts by Baking and Reodica - futile, to say the least - to capture the mayorship swing between naught to hopelessness, they deserve some credit for the confidence, or misplaced bravado, they are showing the Filipino community.

The impossibility of winning does not seem to factor in their dynamics. Nor does it affect them at all. The fun of running (or a potential windfall in fundraising) appears to be the adrenaline that keeps them going.

In a real sense, Baking and Reodica are showing mainstream Toronto that the Filipino community is not to be discounted for lack of gutsy daydreamers. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/04/its-not-joke-jose-baking-aka-joey-is.html).

In fact we have a whole army of them who imagine the day some would be called by the different degrees of honorifics of status and respectability. "President" of that or "chairman/ woman" of this organization don't seem enough anymore to satisfy a craving for recognition.

Filipinos have the numbers to put one of their own in municipal and provincial offices but for their fractious view of governance epitomized by mutual benefit associations and organizations.

Clout, influence, strength, weight, and visibility - we have them all except that we never dare to integrate them into one unified whole. To each his own.

Moreover, the quality of our candidates in the current electoral contest leaves much to be desired. Their public exposure is limited to friends, families, and the Filipino community.

This is not to say we don't have people who can hold a candle to the best mainstream candidate there is.

Paul Saguil, for example, a lawyer who is deputy head of TD Bank's Global Sanction Compliance and Anti-Bribery/Anti- Corruption Program. He unfortunately lost in last year's elections for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

He previously sought the Liberal Party's nomination to be its candidate for Member of Parliament in 2021. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYOA39iwTNA).

There's also Phil de Luna, Ph.D., a young scientist, who ran for another MP seat in 2021 but lost. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqD0G_4u8bk).

We tend to ignore our value as voters, content at being wooed, and pleased at being nominally acknowledged for some inconsequential undertaking.

On the other hand, politicians see that as a weakness, so they exploit us in many merry ways like showing up in our events, partaking of our food, dancing and laughing with us, and generously praising us to high heavens.

I remember this person who self-declared himself founder of a street festival. Of course, it isn't true; he actually stole the idea from the Philippine consulate where he was employed and took extreme delight at being called "Congen" by people who didn't know he was just a chauffeur.

Once at the height of excitement, he was referred to by the sitting prime minister as "Tito ____", his name sounding like the interjection "holy moly". That shout-out was his instant glory which cemented his induction into the world of street festivals.

I captured that moment in a video and uploaded it on my YouTube channel. After I learned that he was using that video to market and monetize the festival and promote himself, I deleted it right away. But the raw copy is still in my files.

But I digress. The point of this article is to highlight the endless assertion that Filipinos need to unite so they could be a powerful political force to be reckoned with.

Wednesday, 14 June 2023

Reputation of Ethnic Media Takes a Hit in Reporters' Complaint

Volume 4, Issue No. 64

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Wednesday, June 14, 2023

~ The constitution of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council (NEPMCC) lists one of its goals "to consider, investigate, and deal with complaints about the conduct of the Ethnic Press . . . " Its efficacy will now be put to the test in the case against two of its officials and their tabloid following revelations by staff writers of the documented deception they engaged in in delaying salaries amounting to thousands of dollars.

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EDITORS AT PHILIPPINE REPORTER CAUGHT RED-HANDED

Will the NEPMCC Investigate Hermie Garcia for His Lies?

At Stake in This Drama Is the Integrity of the Ethnic Media

Part 2

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Never lie to someone who trusts you and never trust someone that lies to you".

- Deanna Wadsworth

TORONTO - "Our privilege and duty," states the Code of Ethics of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), "is to seek and publish the truth, defend free speech and the right to equal treatment under law . . . "

The second part of that statement which reads "defend free speech" is unquestionably true. As a journalist, I can attest to it. My experience with NEPMCC years ago is something that speaks well of the leadership of Thomas Saras, its long-time president and chief executive officer.

When a community functionary (who was fired for stealing a computer at his work place) associated with Hermie Garcia of The Philippine Reporter asked NEPMCC to muzzle me for reporting on wrongdoings and discipline for my adversarial writing style, Saras stood up to him.

" . . . please allow me to express my sympathy for your grievances against the writing style of Mr. (Romy) Marquez, but at the same time I have to respect his right to free expression," Saras wrote without flinching.

"If Mr. Marquez is referring to wrong facts then I will suggest that you should consult a lawyer," he added, emphasizing that only courts of law, not him, can determine the "accuracy or not of the writing". Besides, he stated, as NEPMCC president, he can not impose any style of reporting on him.

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmz75hmf8qI)

The humiliation was unbearable for the heckler but for me, it was one shining moment for NEPMCC. Saras' remark was a principled expression of the kind of ethics he subscribes to and flows to the 1,200 media outlets that hold membership in NEPMCC.

I mention this incident only to illustrate Saras' deep commitment to journalism. It highlights his ethos (defined as "the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution") - the word and the concept the Western world borrowed from the Greeks from where he is descended.

Now, the first part of the Code of Ethics - "to seek and publish the truth" - suggests that the NEPMCC is an organization willing to police its members who have gone astray.

That brings me to the issues raised against Hermie Garcia of The Philippine Reporter by two writers, namely, the journalist Michelle Ramos, and an intern who reported from one of the Prairie Provinces region of Canada.

Ironically, this intern who requested anonymity, is a card-carrying member of Anakbayan, the youth group sympathetic to left-wing causes in the Philippines and Canada that's heavily-promoted by Hermie Garcia in his paper.

Ms. Ramos and the intern have groused about their salaries not being paid on time, a situation blamed by Hermie Garcia on the late arrival of monies which he said came in "trickles of small amounts" that supposedly took months.

Ms. Ramos was informed by Maria Voutsinas, NEPMCC executive director, that Hermie Garcia's excuses were all lies. And the person he claimed was responsible for the disbursements was also his fabrication.

Hermie Garcia and wife Mila Garcia are both officials of NEPMCC; he, as a member of the executive board and senior vice president, and she, as vice president for immigration and humanitarian affairs.

Their proximity to Saras, their access to policy discussions, and their long friendship with him have placed them in a position of influence and might sway decisions.

As board members, will the Garcias be held accountable according to the same professional standards stated in the NEPMCC's Code of Ethics regardless of their position in the organization? Will NEPMCC live up to its own code?

In the complaint filed by Ms. Ramos, a former staff reporter who quit TPR, it is alleged that Hermie Garcia lied repeatedly, and deliberately misled her and another reporter by engaging in deception to justify delaying their salaries for months.

He even created an invisible grants guy "in charge of disbursements" who turned out to be a ghost, as confirmed by Ms. Voutsinas, to evade responsibility for the fake narrative he was weaving and told and retold to Ms. Ramos and the intern.

None of these fully-documented acts has so far warranted any action from Saras and his executive board. In fact, on the commemoration of Freedom of the Press day on May 19 at Toronto City Hall, Saras handed out citations to 15 members, including the Garcia couple.

(Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/05/hermie-and-mila-garcia-freedom-fighters.html). (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFgYaFvRz8I).

One of the objectives of the NEPMCC as enunciated in Article 1 of its Constitution is, and I quote verbatim, "to consider, investigate, and deal with complaints about the conduct of the Ethnic Press and the conduct of persons and organizations towards the Ethnic Press".

The unravelling of Hermie Garcia was accidental. The many things said about Ms. Ramos' and the intern's salaries, the "grants guy" so-called, the alleged difficulty in securing monies from Canadian Heritage, etc. - all were fabricated by Hermie Garcia and attested by Ms. Voutsinas as false.

Ms. Ramos' curiosity (or a nose for news) had led her to NEPMCC. Luckily, the person she talked to was Ms. Voutsinas, also NEPMCC's managing director, a straight shooter who is cut from the same cloth as her father Thomas Saras, the NEPMCC president.

Ms. Ramos told Ms. Voutsinas that she wanted to talk directly to the "grants guy" mentioned by Hermie Garcia and inquire why her salary was being delayed.

Forthright, she told Ms. Ramos: " . . . there never was a grant guy 'in charge of the disbursements". That was a big surprise that contradicted Hermie Garcia's earlier statements.

Ms. Ramos showed Ms. Voutsinas the emails Hermie Garcia sent her blaming the delays on the NEPMCC and the elusive grant guy presumably from the government.

Ms. Voutsinas revealed to her that the NEPMCC and government were never slow with the disbursements that Hermie Garcia had claimed he was 'frustrated' with in his October 31, 2022 email.

She also affirmed that the NEPMCC had already given The Philippine Reporter the grants to cover their salaries for the period of April 2022 - March 2023 in lump sum back in April 2022 so there was no excuse for the delays.

"Therefore," Ms. Ramos added, "The Philippine Reporter did not 'advance' me partial payments out of their own pockets like they falsely told me, because contrary to what they repeatedly claimed, the fact is the NEPMCC had already given them all the funds in advance".

Was Hermie Garcia intent on pocketing the money? Or did he use it for some personal necessities he's too shy to admit? Whatever the case, his lies and deceptions should never be tolerated. Ever. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).

Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Lies, Deceptions by The Philippine Reporter Exposed

Volume 4, Issue No. 63

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Tuesday, June 13, 2023

~ The conjugal editors at The Philippine Reporter are the subject of a complaint filed with Canadian Heritage and National Ethnic Press and Media Council (NEPMCC) over a dubious scheme that delayed payment of salaries to reporters even though the tabloid had earlier received lump-sum budgets for a federal initiative to support local journalism. The editors blamed a phantom "grants guy" for the unwarranted deferral. An official at NEPMCC said there was no such person.

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SCANDAL AT NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL

'Philippine Reporter' Editors Caught Red-Handed
Two Journalists Duped with Lies and Deceptions

Part 1

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"It is better that the truth be known than that scandal be covered up".

- St. Augustine

TORONTO - The week went past with nary a squeak from the conjugal editors of the left-leaning community tabloid The Philippine Reporter (TPR), namely Hermie Garcia alias Ka Herz, and wife Mila A. Garcia.

Equally mum was Thomas Saras who calls the shots across the broad spectrum of 1,200 members he leads as president of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), known in media circles as "the other voices".

Similarly snared in the web of silence are the underlings in the federal Department of Canadian Heritage (or Canadian Heritage) who seemed to favour playing ball with each other rather than confronting serious issues before them head-on.

As of this writing, Saras has not replied to questions I emailed to him in April, just a few weeks after I got wind of this story. Authorities in Canadian Heritage were not responsive to my questions either, even tossing responsibility from one to the other. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFgYaFvRz8I).

The Garcias whom I contacted last for comment the previous week after I completed collecting the facts chose to say nothing. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/05/hermie-and-mila-garcia-freedom-fighters.html).

By not speaking, they probably thought the story would just go away and die. Ever heard of the adage "no talk, no mistake" exemplified by the Three Wise Monkeys of yore? That's the situation I was faced with.

Well, they are wrong. It may look like a simple story, but it has the makings of a scandal involving huge public funds, and thus, Canadian taxpayers, and officials in high places.

Trust in public institutions like Canadian Heritage might erode. The integrity of ethnic media would be in question. Honesty among community journalists would be held in doubt. The government would lose confidence in media because of corrupt practices.

These are the potential effects if allegations bordering on fraud against a member of the ethnic press victimizing its staff would be allowed to pass without punishment or condemnation.

Unbeknownst to Saras, the NEPMCC, the Canadian Heritage, and the complainant who triggered the tempest - writer Michelle Ramos -, they were being played by Hermie Garcia from way back in 2022. That much is clear in the complaint.

Ms. Ramos wrote for TPR covering culture, the arts, and non-political events. In addition to her regular gig, she was hired in April 2022 as a reporter for the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI), which the NEPMCC administers on behalf of Canadian Heritage for its member media outlets.

LJI is one of two (the other is the Canada Periodical Fund) budget commitments launched by Canadian Heritage in 2022 to support local journalism in underserved communities with an investment of $40 million over three years starting 2022-23. For the same period, an additional $10 million was allocated for LJI alone.

TPR became beneficiaries of both the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) to the tune of $32,038 in 2021, and the LJI for an undisclosed amount, which enabled the newspaper to hire reporters, among them Michelle Ramos, and an intern who did not wish to be identified for now.

Ms. Ramos delivered the required articles regularly. Several issues later, she noticed a slowdown in her pay. For example, for work done in June, she would be paid in August; for July, the pay came in September with a large chunk missing.

"I felt really bad for TPR assuming that they couldn't afford to pay me in full at that time," she said. "I thought nothing of it since I fully trusted Tito Hermie".

The slack, she explained, was being attributed by Hermie Garcia to the grant coming in "trickles of small amounts and most of the time delayed for months".

The lag gradually developed into long, unanticipated delays while her bills piled up. Despite that, she continued to write, not losing faith in them as friends.

"By the end of October," Ms. Ramos recalled, "I followed up on my pay for September, August and the amount that was missing from July."

"I feel like a bloody idiot for trusting them whenever I remember this," she blared, a rare outburst from the self-effacing writer.

"Seniors their age should know right from wrong. We never imagined our own mentors would actually lie to us repeatedly and abuse our trust," she added.

She continued to follow up, curious to find out what was happening. Hermie Garcia then explained the funds for LJI were being withheld by the guy managing the grant who he referred to as the "guy in charge of disbursements", presumably in the Canadian Heritage office, pending submission, allegedly, of some paperwork.

"Those explanations turned out to be lies," according to Ms. Ramos.

"I didn't realize there was a separate grant for publishing expenses and specific grants for the LJI reporter's and intern's salaries," she averred.

That revelation came from Maria Voutsinas, a member of NEPMCC's executive board and its managing director, whom Ms. Ramos contacted to ask how she could follow up with the "guy in charge of disbursements" who they referred to the "grants guy" for convenience.

This was when Ms. Voutsinas revealed to her that the "grants guy" Hermie Garcia repeatedly blamed for the delays did not exist.

Further, she explained that the NEPMCC had given TPR the grants in lump sum in April 2022 to cover her and the intern's pay for the entire year.

She confirmed that there were no supposed slow disbursements as Hermie Garcia repeatedly claimed in his emails.

"Maria explained everything to me," Ms. Ramos said.

According to her, Ms. Voutsinas' and Saras' quick intervention prompted the Garcia couple to rush payment of the outstanding money they owed Ms. Ramos and the intern.