Bring Ex-President Duterte Home, Rallyists Demand

Volume 6, Issue No. 41

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 Monday, March 31, 2025 

~ Covering the support/protest/birthday rally for former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at Earl Bales Park on Saturday, March 29 gave us a sense of what and how the thousands of Filipinos abroad feel about his continued detention in The Hague, Netherlands under the custody of the International Criminal Court. The same outcries, the same demands, the same revulsion are repeated a thousand times here in Canada's largest city. 

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

IN TORONTO, HUNDREDS BRAVED RAINS

World Outcry for Ex-President Duterte's Release

Supporters Say He Was 'Kidnapped' by ICC

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"We are easily comforted for the misfortunes of our friends, when those misfortunes give us an occasion of expressing our affection and solicitude." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

TORONTO - What appears to be a spontaneous outpouring of support for detained former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is real, an unforeseen phenomenon seemingly unprecedented in magnitude.

This past weekend here at Earl Bales Park in Canada's largest city, hundreds of individuals and organizations braved the rain and chilly weather to show their affection, respect, and concern for the 80-year-old.

Those are the driving force - made even more compelling when experts' opinion are taken into account that he was kidnapped - for their call for his return to the Philippines from detention in the Netherlands. 

Currently in custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for what it calls "crimes against humanity" he allegedly committed during his term as president from 2016 to 2022 and as mayor of Davao City years prior, Duterte looked unperturbed by all the fuss around him.

He accepts his fate, or whatever awaits him, and says in news videos on social media that he is resigned to the fact that his age, coupled with some health issues, would be the deciding factor on what remains of his life. 

If he's able to ride out those problems and the ICC continues to prosecute him to the end, he declares he'd gladly choose to be executed by firing squad as what had happened to Philippine national hero Jose Rizal in 1896.

Love and respect for "Tatay Digong" (as he is affectionately called) rather than politics are generating the rallies, which, basically are a show of gratitude for what he had done to uplift the pitiful plight of hundreds of thousands of overseas workers at the hands of their abusive employers.

It's not a wonder then that the rallies began at the grassroots level. Duterte's base has always been the underprivileged, the common men and women whose life struggles echo his own. 

Even as the ICC claimed his "arrest" was lawful, in the eyes of legal experts and his supporters, it was a surprise "kidnapping" done soon after he deplaned in Manila from a trip to Hongkong.

That "kidnapping" was tantamount to a surrender of Philippine sovereignty to an organization (the ICC) and enabled by the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

"Former President Duterte deserves the due process," a rallyist named Violet told this reporter. "If he did anything wrong he should be tried in his own country and at his age, it's not very Filipino to be treated like that."

Related videos:

1. Toronto Joins Clamor to Bring Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte Home - Part 1

2. Why Ex-President Duterte Is So Popular and Respected - Part 2

"In our culture, we never treat people like that, especially somebody who has done so much for our country. So I support the Duterte family and I pray for the Philippines and I am here because of that," she added.

Maria, another supporter, explained: "Hindi po dumaan sa due process ang pagka-arrest sa kanya and it's not fair. We are here to support former President Duterte. We're asking the ICC for his release."

Regardless of the politics, Duterte endeared himself to his countrymen by championing the cause of small people, particularly the downtrodden.

In many world capitals where Filipinos and OFWs have significant presence, international news and videos on social media show a massive turnout of folks demanding Duterte's release.

In fact, if online video postings are to be believed, the Netherlands, particularly The Hague where ICC is located, is experiencing a sudden surge of visitor arrivals from across Europe, thanks to Duterte and his followers. (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).

Leftist Ideologues in Community Journalism

FOREWORD

Timeliness and relevance are two important elements of journalism. While reviewing my files this week, I found them in an article, undiminished by years, necessitating a second look and checking if the publication it had been written for still carried it on its website. 

"The first rough draft of history," was how the late Washington Post publisher Phil Graham called journalism. The article I mention here is a chunk of history, but for some unstated reason, it had been removed from the site. Quite a bit of a disappointment especially for those who keep watch of developments in the Filipino community, and for students of history.

Because it provides an earlier glimpse into what two tabloid editors had been doing before they were exposed recently by one of their staff writers for lies and deception makes a compelling case to republish it in my blog. For the record.

***                                        ***

Volume 6, Issue No. 40

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 Friday, March 21, 2025 

~ They dispense with convention like they toss their stinky socks. Journalism is not like that. Advocacy journalism is fighting for principles, standing firm and uncompromising despite adversities, not selling out to favor friends and supporters. Because they would rather be on stage to bask in fleeting moments of false glory, a couple thought they could lead the community blind to their leftist cause. Ideology is a handy mask to hide their true intent. They are no more than agitprop agents out to cash in on the unsuspecting Filipino community. 

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

COMMUNITY JOURNALISM IN TORONTO

 Leftist Ideologues and Agitprop

Is Their Outlet Forever Gone?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves." - François de la Rochefoucauld

TORONTO - On the outside they look benign, a seemingly loving couple perpetually tethered to each other - at least that's how they appear in public.

More than newspapering, they share a passion for being photographed with the high and mighty and with those who have a potential to shine.

They appear in their own paper, stiff but smiling broadly and looking directly at the camera, and in other publications where space, for lack of advertisements, needs constant filling with irrelevant stories and photos.

They dispense with convention for the fleeting glory of the moment. They seem to have no qualms in being seen anywhere and everywhere despite protocol enjoining the observance of a code of ethics and conduct. In journalism, after all, appearances are critical to the performance of one's job.

It is unethical, for example, to be constantly rubbing elbows, and photographed at that, with people who are potentially subjects of adverse stories because public perception, real or imagined, would impact a journalist's independent disposition.

The reason is that in most, if not in all cases, journalists take on an adversarial role. They pose challenges to draw out the truth. An impassioned, free-wheeling discussion of issues would result only from such professional non-partisan behaviour. 

On the other hand, an over-friendly journalist would not have this ability if public perception about him is already muddled with instances of impropriety.

So journalism, not the kind practiced by the lamestream Filipino newspapers in Toronto, is impaired by extreme familiarity with news sources and with people who happen to be in the news for their undoing.

The nature of a journalist's work entails honesty, conviction, neutrality and impartiality.

But the couple here must establish a wide media presence, perhaps to sustain the notion of active community involvement when in fact such involvement is projected only by constantly being filmed.

This strategy very much mimics the tact used to advantage by so-called community leaders and heads of community organizations. For those who doubt this assertion, just flip the pages of Filipino tabloids (those that still exist anyway) and see for yourselves.

Even as the iconic Reds are all dead - Marx, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Chou, Che, Castro - and the Philippine version that they inspired, some capitalistic journalists in Toronto still hanker for the idea that evaded them in their youth.

Thus we have the Red Couple, their relationship sealed forever by fate and faith, and by a common hatred for something that exists only in their minds. It could be professional and business envy, distrust of others who outshine them, their awful lack of self-esteem and failure to advance commercially.

It's hard to pin blame on them, harder still to understand why they would engage in underground warfare in such an open society as Canada. They carry a double face - one that radiates an image of peace and contentment, and the other, a grinning, back-biting snake hiding in trenches.

I suspect the ideology they purport to hold and advance is just a cover to pursue private deals, thus financial support, not just from Canada but also from what's called cause-oriented groups in the Philippines. Otherwise, their paper would not be a propaganda sheet for the Left as it appears.

Toronto's Filipino community has barely time for such ideologues due mainly to the fact that the economy is able to feed the demand for jobs which in many cases are well-paying. Who would instigate changing the status quo than the professional "agitprop" agents?

For example, if the personal and health care providers are an aggrieved lot, it is not because no one is advocating for them. The problem is systemic that needs constant refining by whatever political party in power.

Our Red Couple are opportunistic agitprops of convenience who feign their social advocacies for their own personal comfort. Like the humbug they openly support, they are a sham. (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).

ToM 2025: Would Vendors Be Blocked Again?

Volume 6, Issue No. 39

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, March 19, 2025 

~ They stole photos and video footages, plagiarized stories and ideas, revised historical accounts, and recently, tried to fleece money from onsite vendors - everything, demeaning or foul, to promote the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival and its alleged founder. Such dark incidents are kept from the public and from those who are lulled to patronize the fest by presenting a slew of wannabe movie stars imported from the Philippines. Talk of a dog and pony show, and this one is. Little Manila, ToM's traditional venue, is fast taking the way, shape or form of its namesake city where vice, crime, and corruption are prevalent. 

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

GREED FOR MONEY DRIVES STREET FEST

 ToM's New Theme a Tacit Admission of Wrongdoing

Would Defiant Vendors Be Blocked Again?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"For a wrongdoer to be undetected is difficult; and for him to have confidence that his concealment will continue is impossible." - Epicurus

TORONTO - Two words have found their way into the linguistically-challenged officials of Taste of Manila (ToM) and SPARC and adopted as the theme for this year's festival: resiliency and diversity.

Guilt feelings for showing abuse may have contributed to choosing those words, for they at least squirt remorse for the despicable act of punishing vendors who had declined to participate in a criminal activity.

Resiliency, says the dictionary, is "an ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change." Diversity, on the other hand, is "the condition of having or being composed of differing elements, especially the inclusion of people of different races, cultures, etc."

Clearly implied in its meaning ("an ability to recover from adversity") is a confession of wrongdoing (or adversity) that may be inferred from a loss of sizable patronage and respect for ToM and SPARC.

So they (ToM under its alleged founder Rolly "kabise" Mangante, and SPARC or Society of Philippine [con?] Artists, Recreation and Community) strung together the two nouns to form the catchphrase "celebrating resiliency and diversity" and put it out there as the guiding motif for ToM 2025.

Mangante and SPARC (led by Danilo "Sani" Baluyot and the weirdly Facebook troll with four names - Rose To, Marites Tolits, Rose Ami, and Rosemarie Ami-Seaborn) have perhaps realized that their ToM 2024 slogan - a festival for everyone! - was a big lie.

Well, big or small, a lie is a lie is a lie. In fact, they were so convinced with the lie that they inadvertently created a monument of steel to memorialize that lie and installed it where their greed for money got trashed.

Everyone is everybody, every person, and in the case of ToM, every business, transient or onsite, the latter being already located where they hold the festival in Little Manila. 

Inclusion is the key word, and in that respect, ToM and SPARC failed. Lacking that, both ToM and SPARC made a mockery of their "a festival for everyone!" slogan.

Obviously they became greedy. And with imagined powers in their hands, they ordered the installation of a steel fence to block customers from accessing five business establishments. I thought ToM was for everyone!

Their intent, though not admitted, was clear: to intimidate and extort money from onsite vendors. One businessowner - Jonathan Mayor Pecpec - explained he was willing to pay up if he could afford it so long as public access to his storefront is not obstructed. In effect, he was calling the bluff.

Who among the top honchos of ToM and SPARC chickened out is unknown, so the steel fence went up in the middle of the night to block five establishments on the east side of Bathurst St., the main festival area, and stood there for the duration of the festival on Aug. 17-18, 2024. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btf2yoU4AaE).

Told about the extortion attempt within her federal constituency, Ya'ara Saks, Member of Parliament for York Centre, said: "Everyone should benefit when a community festival comes in the area." (Video at: MP Ya'ara Saks Speaks Out on Taste of Manila Festival).

An admission of wrongdoing followed by an apology would be hard to come by from Mangante, Baluyot, the Facebook troll (what real name does she use?), ToM and SPARC. 

I say this from experience, especially with Mangante who, according to his colleagues, initiated stealing videos and photos from my The Filipino Web Channel, manipulated them, and spliced them with images of wife Nieves Mangante, close friends, and federal, provincial, and local officials. 

(Related story and video: 

1.https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/official-blames-tom-and-partners-for.html)

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ.

So without any feeling of guilt or remorse, they channeled their inner sentiment into the catchphrase, perhaps hoping people would not notice how they obfuscate the truth that they had committed what amounted to an illegal act - the criminal attempt to extort money from vendors.

It escapes reasoning why ToM and SPARC would be so avaricious. From what I could gather, the festival was making money so much that Mangante has turned it into a family-owned business, not to benefit the community, but his family. That's probably the reason he has unredeemed promises. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8XMVd5dT4).

During its early beginnings, ToM barely broke even. Its impending demise was a natural progression. Were it not for a few committed souls and a helping hand from then-Mayor John Tory (who resigned in February 2023 over an extramarital affair with a staffer), ToM would not have continued to exist. 

The Covid-19 epidemic had paused its in-person show, but that did not stop the wannabe Philippine Events and Services Ontario (PESO) invented by a certain Philip Beloso to create a virtual presentation with photos and videos stolen from The Filipino Web Channel. (Related story: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/07/mondee-names-alleged-culprits.html).

At least 13 individual and corporate entities sponsored the virtual event. In addition, PESO invited the public to choose from three categories of membership, namely, gold for $1,000.00; silver for $500.00; and bronze for $300.00. What for? For what benefit? It sounded like a scam, or was it? 

Concerned individuals, notably the self-proclaimed founder Rolly Mangante, should clarify the issue. To this day, however, nobody knows where the monies in sponsorship fees, membership charges, and returns from merch (mugs, shirts) went. Is PESO still existing?

In 2022, Mangante contracted a rookie - the International Entertainment Company (IEC) of Cecile Araneta and Ramon Datol - to handle the festival for three years starting that year. After fronting once, IEC was thrown under the bus, triggering a lawsuit alleging a breach of contract by Mangante. 

(Background and related stories: 

1. https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/volume-4-issue-no.html

2. https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/11/new-taste-of-manila-in-jeopardy.html).

No matter how messy it was in 2022, ToM managed to stand up again through a succession of dubious not-for-profit organizations hired to mount ToM for the next three years.

While IEC was forced out, in came SPARC headed by newbies Danilo "Sani" Baluyot and Facebook troll Rose To alias Marites Tolits alias Rose Ami alias Rosemarie Ami-Seaborn. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGVqgszwyYA).

There's nothing much to their credit except ToM 2024, which publicly exhibited their depravity in the steel fence which, so far, is their most consequential achievement. Yet, a so-called foundation cited Mangante as a "role model for compassion, dedication, and service." Did money make it possible? (Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved).