Volume 5, Issue No. 13
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Monday, October 16, 2023
~ Repeated requests for comments have gone nowhere in understanding the issues of why the community's left-leaning tabloid had tried to stiff two of its writers. Its enablers in the ethnic press association, in the federal agency providing funding, and in the local rare book library, appear to have succumbed to a deafening silence, thus leaving a well-documented complaint dangling and unaddressed. The tabloid has a new hire ostensibly to pick up from the void left by the resignation of the reporters victimized by their editors.
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SCAM IN LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE?
A Deafening Silence to Conceal the Truth
Tabloid Has New Hire Amidst Unaddressed Issues
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie".
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko
TORONTO - Four long months to the day on Friday the 13th of October and there's not a whiff of information from the usual garrulous fount of idle talk in the Filipino community.
So deafening is the silence to the point it seems to have also afflicted media advocates in such an organization as the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) whose self-ordained mandate is "to seek and publish the truth, defend free speech and the right to equal treatment under law . . . "
In June, the artist and journalist Michelle Chermaine Ramos (video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FT2kEZfls) bared how she and another writer were duped by their principals at The Philippine Reporter (TPR), the left-leaning tabloid owned and edited by the husband and wife tandem of Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia.
(Background: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-black-propagandist-in-our-midst.html).
Ms. Ramos, a staff reporter; and the other writer, a member of the youth group Anakbayan who wrote as an intern, were reporting under the auspices of the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI), an undertaking by Canadian Heritage, which invested $50 million, to support journalism in underserved communities.
Locally, LJI is managed by NEPMCC where TPR and the Garcia couple are members. In 2021, TPR got $32,038 under the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) and an undetermined amount under LJI. For hiring reporters to write LJI-suggested stories, TPR was allocated a lump sum, paid in advance of the period to be covered.
Although the Garcias had the full budget on hand, the salaries of Ms. Ramos and the intern were withheld for months lasting nearly a year. Hermie Garcia blamed the purported delay on Canadian Heritage, specifically on somebody there he called as the "guy in charge of disbursements".
As Ms. Ramos found out later, Hermie Garcia's explanation was a fabrication. The alleged waiting period to get paid for their LJI-related work and the "guy" supposedly handling the monies were all his concoction.
Prior to her uncovering the dubious scheme, his initial clarifications justifying the slack were not convincing enough because she knew it was the federal government through Canadian Heritage via NEPMCC that was funding LJI.
Her inquiries led her to Maria Voutsinas, a member of NEPMCC's executive board and its managing director, who explained that Hermie Garcia's so-called "grant guy" did not exist and that TPR had been given the full one-year grant money for salaries of the two LJI reporters.
From Ms. Voutsinas' assertion, it was clear Hermie Garcia's claims were untrue. It's evident too that Ms. Ramos and the intern had been deceived, lied to, used, and blamed (in the case of the intern).
His fantastic tales lasted for months and the reasons why he did it are still unexplained to this day. Why the silence?
(Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/06/lies-deceptions-by-philippine-reporter.html).
Hermie Garcia was probably banking on the idea that none of the two writers (Ms. Ramos and the intern) would pull the plug on him, perhaps knowing many Filipinos are too timid to fight for their rights, or at the least, speak up against wrongdoing.
One outstanding question needing answers is why Hermie Garcia held the money, deceived people, manufactured lies, blamed federal officials, and made fools of Ms. Ramos and the intern?
Another poser is his attempt to cover up. Why? Why did he keep the monies for as long as he could and released only after the NEPMCC chided him? What would have happened to the monies intended for the LJI reporters if he wasn't caught lying by Ms. Ramos?
The latest edition of TPR tells some new developments related to Ms. Ramos' complaint. On its website, it published on October 6 a story bylined by a Sophia de Guzman about the 51st anniversary of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines.
The writer's lack of background about the homeland is quite obvious in the story. According to a profile in one of the periodicals she writes for, her roots are in California and British Columbia. Apparently she's in Toronto finishing journalism studies.
Her LinkedIn profile - the full name there is Sophia de Guzman Rivadeiro - shows she was contracted by TPR in August as a part-timer with the title LJI Reporter.
For months that designation was attached to Ms. Ramos' name, then to two others in TPR. It was gone for some time, then emerged again and now appended to Sophia de Guzman.
That indicates to me a falling-out within TPR and NEPMCC, possibly triggered by Ms. Ramos' unmasking of Hermie Garcia in June, which then prompted Canadian Heritage to take a hard look at LJI and how it is being managed.
Even as her exposé was published, NEPMCC president Thomas Saras announced in June and July that "members who were qualified for the LJI will be receiving cheques soon".
In August, he said, and I quote him, "we will be going through all outstanding LJI applications shortly and new applications will be accepted".
In all the meetings NEPMCC had in June, July, and August - which actually coincided with the publication (the list of articles below) of Ms. Ramos' complaint in the online Filipino Web Magazine - the non-profit organization never mentioned anything about Hermie Garcia and what he did with the monies intended for Ms. Ramos and the intern.
1. Lies, Deception by The Philippine Reporter Exposed:
2. Hermie and Mila Garcia: Freedom Fights or Traitors:
3. Reputation of Ethnic Media Takes a Hit in Reporters' Complaint:
4. A Reflection of Life and Times That Escaped Notice:
5. Did Rare Book Library Make a Mistake in Archiving TPR:
A hint that something unfavourable was happening in NEPMCC has emerged in September during its monthly meeting. There, Saras disclosed that the "LJI program was on hold due to the delay by the ministry of Canadian Heritage".
Has the federal government finally taken notice of Ms. Ramos' complaint? I hope so.
Meanwhile, my request for an interview with Sophia de Guzman through one of her gigs has not been answered as of this writing. I worry that she might end up like Ms. Ramos and the intern - deceived, lied to, used, and blamed. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).
Mabuhay ka, Romy! We salute your crusade for truth and integrity in community journalism! — Sluggo Rigor, Seattle, WA.
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