Volume 5, Issue No. 40
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Monday, July 8, 2024
~ The recent meeting between ranking federal officials and the ethnic press leads us to believe that it was the offshoot of a money scandal involving a bony Filipino tabloid and its editors who, until it was exposed by one of its writers, had almost succeeded in swindling two members of its staff of their money. Where that meeting took place, what transpired, and how they addressed the issues were not disclosed.
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DISCUSSION OVER THE FEDERALLY-FUNDED L.J.I.
Canadian Heritage Holds Meeting with Ethnic Press
Money Scandal Casts a Shadow Over Media Integrity
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"Crime. once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity." - Tacitus
TORONTO - Ranking federal officials have met with the general membership of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) in a discussion that presumably involved further funding the government's Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) targeting underserved communities.
A six-member delegation from Canadian Heritage had been invited "to make their presentation" during the association's "hybrid meeting via Zoom and in person" on June 10, NEPMCC president Thomas Saras has announced. No details were disclosed.
The gathering came at a time when NEPMCC is apparently undergoing scrutiny following revelations that one of its members - The Philippine Reporter (TPR) and its editors, Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia - had engaged in questionable conduct that adversely affected the reputation and integrity of both the federal agency and the NEPMCC.
That Canadian Heritage would send such a big contingent to dialogue with ethnic media underscores the importance it attaches to its community outreach, notably the LJI, which is one of several schemes under the Canada Periodical Fund that allocates grant money to qualified NEPMCC members.
Launched in 2019 with a $50 million budget spread over five years, LJI was meant to serve communities underserved by media by essentially subsidizing their news coverage. Because of its wide reach through its members, the NEPMCC serves as LJI's implementing outlet
"The (media) industry and members of NEPMCC are struggling financially," Saras said, according to the minutes of the June 10 meeting published in the NEPMCC website only last week.
He also identified the members of the delegation, namely: France Fortier, Director, Periodical Publishing Policy and Programs; Karine Morin, Manager, Aid to Publishers, Canada Periodical Fund; Andrea Simms-Karp, Manager Collective Initiatives, LJI, CPF; Sridaya Srivastan, Policy Analyst Magazines Policy; Brigette Fontille, Program Officer, LJI, and Cynthia D’Amours, Senior Program Officer, LJI, SMJ.
"Following the (Heritage) presentation, the chair Dr. (Mohammad) Tajdolati opned (sic) the floor for questions and answers to members present in person and members attending all over Canada via Zoom," the minutes of the meeting said.
One of those who "asked relevant questions to the delegation" was Mila Garcia, wife of Hermie Garcia. The Garcias edit and manage the now-reduced 16-page TPR tabloid, which lately, has gone from fortnightly to monthly.
TPR's frequency and physical appearance, worsened by dwindling advertising support, seem to confirm Saras' assertion that NEPMCC members are facing monetary problems.
The financial crunch could also be a major reason in TPR's aborted attempt to stiff two of its staff members, which went on largely unknown for months until journalist Michelle Chermaine Ramos, a former TPR staffer, accidentally uncovered it. (Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FT2kEZfls).
In recounting the events leading up to her exposé last year, Ms. Ramos detailed how Hermie Garcia and Mila Garcia engaged in outright lies and deception, even blaming Canadian Heritage, for undue delays in compensating her and another writer for their work as LJI reporters.
Documented copies of her complaint have been filed with Canadian Heritage and the NEPMCC. Thirteen months later and up to this writing, neither of the two agencies nor the Garcias responded to the complaint.
There is also no indication that the NEPMCC president and/or its board of directors censured the Garcias for their acts. Hermie Garcia is a member of the executive board as a senior VP. Mila Garcia is also a VP for humanitarian and immigration affairs.
Ms. Ramos had been informed by NEPMCC official Maria Voutsinas that Hermie Garcia was lying when he said that her salary as LJI reporter was being held back by Canadian Heritage for some cockamamie reasons.
In fact, the truth was that Hermie Garcia had been handed the money for salaries in one lump sum months prior to the start of the LJI program, Ms. Voutsinas said.
Besides, she explained, Hermie Garcia's statement blaming a "grant guy" for the problem was his fabrication as there was no "grant guy" in the first place.
For a media organization as big and widespread as the NEPMCC, its uncharacteristic silence on Ms. Ramos' exposé is unnerving.
Moreover, it appears to be enabling Hermie Garcia and Mila Garcia who both continue to hold positions in the organization.
As it stands now, TPR is perhaps experiencing difficulty recruiting writers to report under the LJI program, evidently a result of the recently unearthed scandal.
Based on the minutes, TPR is apparently trying to impress the NEPMCC that it still enjoys the community's trust by enlisting individuals who are essentially NPAs (non-performing assets, in contrast with the communist New People's Army the Garcias are perhaps most familiar with) in its staff who have no journalism credentials. Is TPR going down? (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
N.B. To help readers understand the full story, here are links to related articles:
1. Lies, Deception by The Philippine Reporter Exposed:
2. Reputation of Ethnic Media Takes a Hit in Reporter's Complaint:
3. Did Rare Book Library Make a Mistake in Archiving TPR?:
4. A Black Propagandist in Our Midst:
5. Canadian Heritage Acts on Funding LJI:
6. Issues Affecting Ethnic Press Go Unaddressed:
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