Volume 6, Issue No. 6
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Saturday, August 10, 2024
~ The pages of the once robust "twice a month" tabloid have dwindled and thinned, its articles reliant on press releases rather than staff, and its writers listed for decorative purposes than for reporting skills. Since 2023, The Philippine Reporter is struggling to survive the apparent loss of credibility, and consequently, the bread-and-butter advertising support, following a stunning exposé by a staffer its editors had almost succeeded in defrauding of her, and an intern's, hard-earned money. The bleak situation TPR is now in is evident in its frequency - from fortnightly to monthly.
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SPOTLIGHT ON THE PHILIPPINE REPORTER
Tabloid Tumbles from 'Twice a Month' to Monthly
The Deception by Its Editors Is Now Taking a Toll
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact." - Arthur Conan Doyle
TORONTO - The adjective "disingenuous" comes to mind when for the first time in months, my attention was called to the left's favorite propaganda sheet, The Philippine Reporter (TPR), which appears to be in the throes of being an unlamented vestige of the past.
As anyone who reads it (like myself, occasionally) knows, the tabloid is owned, edited, and managed by the couple Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia, they who survived imprisonment and torture during the martial law years in the Philippines, not for being provincial journalists, but for rebellion.
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Their incarceration stemming from violent political leanings - he, for "12 years," and she "for a number of years," according to the National Ethnic Press and Media Council (NEPMCC) - was manipulated to make them appear like heroes and capitalized on to promote the periodical in entertainment-obsessed Filipino community of Toronto.
There's a seeming lack of concern for what TPR advocates and does, not to say of the constant brain-washing inherent in articles it publishes, such that the lies and deception by the Garcias are practically overlooked.
And the sad fact is that they found their victims in their own backyard, i.e. staff writer Michelle Chermaine Ramos, and an Edmonton-based intern (both had since resigned) who were duped into believing their salaries from a federal government-funded project were being withheld when all the while their monies were in the Garcias' pocket in one big lump sum.
It was Ms. Ramos herself who exposed the fraudulent scheme way back in June 2023. Since then, TPR was on the path to extinction, slowly maybe, but surely. (Related video: FEATURE: 'Spirits of Sacrifice Nurturing Nations' by Michelle Chermaine Ramos).
TPR comes out two times a month, its thinning pages virtually resemble a skeleton of what supposedly was a robust 35 years of publication. That was before Ms. Ramos' bombshell, however.
Perhaps the Garcias are not done with their deception. Starting in May, for example, TPR rolled out its issue that said "twice a month" in its masthead along with the grammatically erroneous slogan "News that matter to Filipino Canadians."
That edition was designated as "Volume 36 No. 4". The following month, in June, TPR came out again with "Volume 36 No. 5". It's obvious that the "twice a month" claim is a lie because the truth is right there. TPR, in fact, is a monthly from that time on.
Well, the Garcias sort of admitted it. So in TPR's July issue, they junked "twice a month" without saying anything about why they did. That edition is denoted "Volume 36 No. 6". So, from volume 36, numbers 4, 5, and 6, the paper has become a monthly.
Is TPR's shameful decline already happening? The only reason I could think of for this depressing development is the exposé by Ms. Ramos who bravely chronicled and reported the deception and fraudulent scheme she and the intern had experienced working with the Garcias.
Their trust had been abused and their naiveté exploited while the Garcias also made fools of top officials of the NEPMCC and Canadian Heritage whom they used to pull off their shady ruse.
NEPMCC is the implementing arm of the Local Journalism Initiative, a media project funded by Canadian Heritage to reach underserved communities. TPR was among NEPMCC members that received substantial grant money (meaning taxpayers' money) to hire reporters and, in this case, Ms. Ramos and the intern.
The assist being extended by their friends at NEPMCC to prop up TPR is questionable though not quite helpful. The loss of credibility is hard to surmount, particularly if it involved stiffing two of its own writers.
The NEPMCC has ignored requests for comment on Ms. Ramos' complaint. Canadian Heritage also did not address questions emailed to officials months ago.
I believe they decided to just stay quiet because of the humiliation the Garcias brought to the association and to the federal agency. Responding to questions would be tantamount to acknowledging loopholes in disbursing funds, which the Garcias exploited, and, therefore, affirming the validity of Ms. Ramos' complaint.
In the months since this website reported the exposé, the number of readers of the five articles I've written about TPR and the Garcias has shot up to unprecedented highs.
Some readers have expressed shock and outrage that some Filipinos would be in the business of conning their own kind because they could get away with it.
Well, not this time folks. We will run after them and make them accountable. (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
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