Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Garcia Couple Jailed for 'Leftist Activities,' Not for Being Critics

Volume 7, Issue No. 17
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 Wednesday, October 1, 2025 

~ A local writer has affirmed in an article that the co-editors of the left-leaning The Philippine Reporter, namely Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia, were imprisoned for "leftist activities" and not for "criticizing" the (Ferdinand E.) Marcos dictatorship as what the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) claims, after which it recognized them with "certificates of awards." A complaint by former staff writer Michelle Chermaine Ramos against the Garcia couple for their lies and deceptive practices remains unacted. 

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WRITER RODEL J. RAMOS SAYS:
Hermie and Mila A. Garcia Landed
in Prison for Their 'Leftist Activities' 



By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel


"Beware the demon of pomposity." - Katharine Graham


TORONTO - Tabloid writer Rodel J. Ramos begins his narrative with a swipe at the unidentified journalist in this wise: "A writer made fun of the Philippine Press Club Ontario (PPC-O) calling it Philippine 'Praise' Club Ontario. He believes it is only a social club. We do not blame him. He was new in Toronto then . . . "

The mild rebuke was obviously directed at me, understandably so since nobody else had referred to that association in such a mocking manner. Though he did not identify me by name, his portrayal of "a writer" making fun of PPCO obviously fits me. Frankly, I don't take offense.

But it's not what Rodel wrote about PPCO that has aroused my interest while reading his lengthy piece titled "How the Media Influenced the Toronto Community - Chapter 1" in the September 2025 issue of Atin Ito newspaper. (https://online.fliphtml5.com/ufflc/mbvl/#p=32).

On page 33, top of the fourth column, he stated: " . . . Hermie (Garcia) was imprisoned for 6 years by (Ferdinand E.) Marcos and Mila Garcia for 10 years for their leftist activities against the Marcos Government."

The operative phrase "leftist activities" stands out. For one, it negates published claims that the Garcia couple were imprisoned for their writings supposedly critical of the martial law regime in the 1970's in the Philippines.

For another, it belies the lies amplified by the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) which honoured them with "certificates of awards" during its "Freedom of the Press Celebrations" in May 2023 at Toronto City Hall.


That's the whole point of this essay - to call attention to a misunderstanding by NEPMCC officials of the real role Hermie Garcia and Mila Garcia played in Philippine politics that led to their imprisonment.

I must thank Rodel for affirming what several journalists had written about the couple - that they're not what the NEPMCC had been led to believe. Honest, ethical individuals would have corrected the egregious lies about them.

According to Thomas Saras, NEPMCC president, "Hermie Garcia spent 12 years in jail under Marcos for criticizing the Marcos dictatorship and his wife Mila also for a number of years for criticizing the dictatorship of Marcos." 

That's awfully wrong. Regardless of the number of years in prison (Rodel says six for Hermie and 10 for Mila; writer Jennilee Austria claims six-and-a-half years for Hermie; Saras declares 12 for Hermie; and Hermie maintains "a month and a half"), the fact is indisputable that their incarceration was for subversion.

Hermie Garcia himself admitted that he and Mila Garcia were "arrested and charged by the Marcos military with rebellion" in 1974. They fled to Canada after their release and started the left-leaning and now defunct (?) The Philippine Reporter (TPR) tabloid.

I have taken issue with Saras' characterization for the reason that journalism or being a critic of Marcos had nothing to do with their imprisonment. The NEPMCC practically made heroes of the Garcias in the eyes of the hundreds of members of Canada's ethnic press.


Months before the NEPMCC recognition in May 2023, artist and journalist Michelle Chermaine Ramos (no relation to Rodel Ramos) was already indignant at what was happening with her salary as a reporter for the federal government-funded Local Journalism Initiative (LJI), which NEPMCC is implementing through its members, among them TPR.

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.



Before it even began in 2023, the Garcias and their TPR had already received the grant money in one lump sum from Canadian Heritage to compensate participants in LJI, in this case Ms. Ramos and another writer based in Edmonton, Alberta.

But lo and behold, their salaries never reached them on time! Hermie Garcia and Mila Garcia came up with false pretenses, such as a grant guy withholding payment pending submission of certain requirements, and that money, if ever it came, came in trickles. It's all fiction.

Why the Garcias lied to their staff writers, to Canadian Heritage, and to NEPMCC was never explained. The fraud had succeeded for months until Ms. Ramos, already fed up for working and not paid, sought answers from NEPMCC managing director Maria Saras Voutsinas.

That's when she learned she and the Edmonton writer were being lied to and deceived by the Garcias. Ms. Ramos filed a complaint with Canadian Heritage and NEPMCC detailing how she was gypped.

Their acts, Ms. Voutsinas told Ms. Ramos, were "technically criminal". And yet, the NEPMCC of which she is part, bestowed "certificates of awards" to the couple and therefore paid no attention to the Garcias' fraudulent conduct.

Hopefully, Rodel Ramos' assertion, the latest in years, about Hermie and Mila Garcia would open the eyes of NEPMCC and reconsider what it did for them. False heroes abound in the community and NEPMCC should not lend itself to propagating them. (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).

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Monday, 22 September 2025

50 Years Past, Mon Torralba's Music Continues to Charm

Volume 7, Issue No. 16
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, September 22, 2025 

~ There's no slowing down for this heartthrob of generations. His landmark music remains entrenched in our hearts, withstanding the test of time, freezing instant affection for someone we fell for from a distance - our unrequited "Pers Lab." That that song endures is testament to the universal message its composer, Ramon "Mon" Torralba, propagates through the last five decades.

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RAMON 'MON' TORRALBA
There's No Stopping This Musician
Who Takes Us to a Joyous Swoon 


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel


"A great song should lift your heart, warm the soul and make you feel good." - Colbie Caillat


TORONTO - Remember. Reminisce. Relive. Rejoice.

Those euphoric and sometimes dark moments in our youth are sure to come up again in one setting when the low-key heartthrob of generations past reclaims his star in the global firmament.

Luck smiles on us for having in our midst a composer, lyricist, musician, and musical director who goes by endearing nicknames Mon, Ramoncito, and "Pers Lab" - the latter both a charm and recognition of universal love his composition champions.

The community celebrates Ramon Torralba, a long time Toronto resident, who shot to fame for the romantic and engaging songs he wrote for and collaborated with the Hotdog band, notably "Pers Lab" whose lyrics vocalize unspoken affection for someone seen for the first time yet unmet.

Try to imagine feeling like ice cream melting under the sun while your heart peeks out of your chest every time one sees the person of one's yearning passes by? That's how poetic it is. 

Perhaps the strength of that song lies in its ability to relate to the first flaunting of raw emotions - first love or adolescent love, Pers Lab in Torralba's figurative language - which manifests, according to Filipino folklore, in pimples in the face and blamed on unmeasured inspirations.

One other person who gave flesh to the song is Ella del Rosario, the colegiala of yesteryears who graduated magna cum laude from the all-girls Maryknoll College, 
and the original songstress with the alluring voice that menfolk find seductive. She popularized the song in 1974 and became the band's first mega-platinum hit.

She's a multi-awarded Filipina-Spanish-American singer and popular celebrity, known as the "Manila Sound Queen," “Samba Queen” and "Disco Queen." After launching a solo career, she achieved rapid success with mega-platinum solos "O Lumapit Ka" and "Mr. Disco." 

According to Mon, Pers Lab, his first-ever composition, was “pressure-cooked.” He recalls the night he worked on the song. Hotdog band members were quartered in a house in Makati where the group practiced and chilled. 

Coming off his school studies at De La Salle University in Manila, Mon arrived at the house that late afternoon and was told of a scheduled recording at 8 the next morning. The problem was, there was no song to record.

When Mon and Ella teamed up, they were both on the cusp of adulthood 50 years ago. No one except them knew about the song from the time it was composed to the time it was recorded in the mid 1970's, notwithstanding earlier claims to the contrary.

When it came out, nobody knew "Pers "Lab" would be some sort of trigger that would revolutionize the Philippine music industry. In fact, it kicked off a cultural reawakening from old-fashioned harana and kundiman that generations prior to the boomer generation had been used to.

The song would actually spawn a surge in Filipino music, giving birth, first, to Manila Sound, and later, to what we now aptly know as the Original Pilipino Music (OPM). 

In that sense, it's not an exaggeration to consider Torralba and Del Rosario the early pioneers of OPM even as their band, Hotdog, also had a significant role in expanding it with their songs.

This bit of history, and more, will play out in real time at an evening concert on Saturday, November 22 at Toronto Pavilion at 190 Railside Rd., North York, Ontario. Tickets are priced at $55.

Titled "When Legends Reunite . . . Manila Sound Comes Home," it reconnects Torralba with Del Rosario in the first ever get-together of two music icons.

Also featured are the all-star band of Nato Buzon (bass), Vin Velarde (drums), and Daniel Yap (keyboards). Special guest artists include four members of The Vocal Groove Collective (Rodney Ronquillo, Chyrell Ronquillo, Pabs Quiogue and Bevs Saraza), plus Alyssa Grace, Tess Panaligan, Rhett Dela Cruz, and Pitch Perfect Academy.

For those interested in the lyrics of Pers Lab, here they are:

[Verse 1]
Tuwing kita'y nakikita, ako'y natutunaw
Parang ice cream na bilad sa ilalim ng araw
Ano ba naman ang sikreto mo at 'di ka maalis sa isip ko?
Ano bang gayuma ang gamit mo at masyado akong patay sa'yo?

[Bridge]
'Di na makatulog, 'di pa makakain
Taghiyawat sa ilong, pati na sa pisngi
Sa kaiisip sa'yo, taghiyawat dumadami

[Verse 2]
Tuwing kita'y nakikita, ako'y natutunaw
Tuwing daan sa harap mo, puso ko'y dumudungaw

[Outro]
Kailan ba kita makikilala?
Sana'y malapit na
Malapit na

By the way, I once asked Mon Torralba if he has finally met the person that caused his heart to gape and almost jump out of his chest. His answer: soon, hopefully, soon. Well, it's been 50 years Mon! (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).
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Wednesday, 17 September 2025

NEPMCC Official Condemns Lies by TPR Editors

Volume 7, Issue No. 15
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 Wednesday, September 17, 2025 

~ From the horse's mouth comes what may be construed as an indictment - that the lies and deception by Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia were "technically criminal." The couple had been outed for their fraudulent activities by a staffer who used to write for The Philippine Reporter tabloid which the Garcias owned and edited. If their acts were felonious, why do they still occupy responsible positions in the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada? Are they being protected by this organization to the detriment of the federal government, the group itself and its members? 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  


ETHNIC PRESS OFFICIAL'S OWN WORDS:
The Lies and Deception by Hermie Garcia 
and Wife Were 'Technically Criminal' 



By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel


"But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie." - Khaled Hosseini


TORONTO - The most damning words ever to come out of the complaint against the husband and wife owners of the tabloid The Philippine Reporter (TPR) originated from a top ethnic press official who, as it appeared later, had tried to wiggle them out of their predicament.

Short of telling them to their faces, Maria Saras Voutsinas, managing director and senior vice president of National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), condemned the actions by TPR editors Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia in concealing the truth about the federal grant money allocated as salaries for two of their writers.

"This is technically criminal," Ms. Voutsinas told artist and journalist Michelle Chermaine Ramos, a resigned TPR staff writer who wrote for the government's Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) implemented by NEPMCC through its members.

"I know that sounds harsh, but it is," she added to a bewildered Ms. Ramos who, at that time in late 2022, was complaining about the inordinate delay in her salary. "They have no right to use the LJI money," she stressed.

That turned out to be just the tip of a more elaborate scheme foisted by the Garcia couple, which included concocting a fictitious "grant guy" who was supposedly holding up the release of LJI money that actually had been given to them in one lump sum months in advance of LJI.

The Garcias have not addressed such lingering questions of why they lied about Canadian Heritage, the federal agency that administered LJI, and the grant money it allots to NEPMCC, and why they shortchanged writers of their salaries for months until they were found out. 

Neither was there any official response on why NEPMCC - which seemed unaware of what's happening in its own backyard until Ms. Ramos brought it to its attention - appears to have enabled the Garcias, skipping inquiries on why they continue to occupy responsible positions in NEPMCC.

Ms. Ramos had fortuitously discovered how the Garcias spun lies and deceit to hide how they misappropriated LJI money allotted for salaries of two writers - Ms. Ramos and the Edmonton-based intern.

(Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJc42WrFRQ)

She asked NEPMCC why her LJI salary was not paid on time or delayed for months even though she continued to write the required three to five LJI articles per issue of the fortnightly TPR.

Ms. Voutsinas was shocked, more so when she learned Hermie Garcia was blaming Canadian Heritage and a so-called grant guy for the mess. "We need to address this as soon as possible," Ms. Voutsinas messaged Ms. Ramos. 

Ms. Voutsinas sounded panicky. Such a situation could prejudice the grant money - the people's money - allocated for LJI by Canadian Heritage to NEPMCC, which amounted to $4.2 million for the period 2021-2025.

Basically the number 2 person in authority after her father, Thomas Saras, NEPMCC president, Ms. Voutsinas tried to walk back her earlier statement to Ms. Ramos. During a hostile interaction with this reporter at World Press Freedom Day on May 2, 2025 at Toronto City Hall, she said, and I quote her: "What Michelle told you is not true."


She's in effect saying Ms. Ramos lied in her fully-documented complaint filed with NEPMCC on January 2, 2023 and with Canadian Heritage in April 2023. For a moment, I had the strange feeling that Ms. Voutsinas was not being honest with me. 

No matter what she said, however, I had, and continue to have, more faith in Ms. Ramos telling the truth. She had no motive to lie and create a faIse narrative against the Garcias whom she trusted and considered friends. For those reasons, I give much credence to her claim. The unpaid salary due her for the LJI work was no reason to compromise her integrity.

I feel that Ms. Voutsinas was trying to cast doubt on Ms. Ramos' assertion not because it was untrue, but because it might convince me to stop digging further into the mess. She actually indicated that with a warning that she's contemplating to issue a cease and desist order.

Months prior to our encounter at City Hall, Ms. Voutsinas had already concluded that the lies and deception by Hermie Garcia were "technically criminal" and needed to be addressed promptly.

Related story: 


TPR is among the 80 ethnic periodicals listed by the NEPMCC as "LJI 2024/2025 funded outlets" for the federal government's information outreach to underserved communities. NEPMCC is one of seven not-for-profit organizations that administer LJI on behalf of the government. Canadian Heritage provides funding for salaries of journalists hired by ethnic press members.

Even as Hermie Garcia and Mila A. Garcia were outed in late 2022 for their deceptive and fraudulent activities involving LJI and their reporters, their names still appear in NEPMCC's roster as vice presidents, and TPR as a member.

TPR's last print and digital issues were recorded on July 2024 - that's 14 months ago - meaning they ceased to exist after that date. But looking at the NEPMCC website, TPR appears to be an active member as do the Garcia couple.

Why then does he remain in NEPMCC as member of its executive board and senior vice president? And so is his wife Mila A. Garcia as vice president? 

If Ms. Ramos' complaint is treated properly, it would necessitate the removal of the Garcias from the organization. The lies they fabricated were not only against the federal government, they do run counter to journalism ethics advocated by the NEPMCC.

The fact that the couple had managed to pull their trickery for months and victimized Ms. Ramos and the Edmonton-based intern showed the NEPMCC had been negligent in managing LJI as it concerned the Garcias. (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).

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