Volume 8, Issue No. 2
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@aol.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America and Europe . . .
Our latest as of Wednesday, July 15, 2026
~ What essentially began as a social media catfight that had turned into a bitter squabble in court has come to an end with the losing party ordered to pay up nearly half-a-million dollars for defaming a Toronto businessperson. A decision has been rendered recently by a panel of three judges of the Court of Appeal for Ontario upholding a trial court judge's earlier decision in the defamation case and throwing out an appeal.
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LIWAYWAY MIRANDA'S SUIT V. TESS CUSIPAG UPHELD
Balita Loses Defamation Case; To Pay $0.5-Million in Damages
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses." — Heraclitus
TORONTO - The Court of Appeal for Ontario, the province's highest level of court, has rejected an appeal by Balita and its publisher Tess Cusipag to set aside a trial judge's decision finding them liable for defamation and awarding damages amounting to nearly half-a-million dollars to businesswoman Liwayway Miranda.
The decision reached by a panel of three judges puts an end to the acrimonious personal quarrel between the two women who, in age, are generations apart. More broadly, it could significantly impact the current practice of entertainment-oriented journalism in the Filipino community.
For Ms. Miranda, it's a triumph of justice, a further vindication that restores her dignity and reputation as an entrepreneur which, for the most part, had been soiled by false accusations instigated by envious competitors.
For Ms. Cusipag, it adds to an extraordinary record of recidivism consisting of costly court losses with one case resulting in her serving 13 days in jail for criminal contempt of court.
Ms. Miranda previously owned the Toronto-based A&L Hammer Workforce Management where she was CEO and president. It shuttered after six Filipino farmworkers who lied about their status, dishonestly accused her of human trafficking.
(Videos:
Ms. Cusipag, on the other hand, is publisher and self-named editor of Balita, a fortnightly tabloid circulated in Toronto, founded by her late husband, journalist Ruben Cusipag.
(Related story: https://www.balita.ca/about/digital-journalism/)
Handed down in March this year, the judgment provides, among others:
"THIS COURT ORDERS that the defendants shall be permanently enjoined from, directly or indirectly, publishing and/or broadcasting, or encouraging or assisting others to publish or broadcast any statements about the plaintiff, in any manner whatsoever, which in their plain or ordinary meaning or by innuendo be similar to the defamatory statements made in the December 18, 2022 Balita article titled “BEWARE… Toronto scammers abound around us!” or the statements of the defendant, Teresita “Tess” Cusipag, on social media concerning the plaintiff." (italics mine).
The now-forbidden statement, first published in Balita in 2020 and republished in 2022, and then posted on Ms. Cusipag's Facebook account, is at the heart of Ms. Miranda's complaint filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
In April 2025, Superior Court Justice R. Lee Akazaki, expressing outrage at Ms. Cusipag's conduct, affirmed Ms. Miranda's defamation complaint, and awarded her general and punitive damages totalling $250,000, and costs of $100,000. The amount has since grown to almost $500,000 to include lawyer's fees of $125,000 and interest.
Ms. Cusipag, apparently stung by Justice Lee's decision, asked the Court of Appeal for Ontario to toss it. The panel of three justices - Lorne Sossin, Sally A. Gomery, and Peter J. Osborne - heard the appeal on March 12, 2026, and two weeks later, on March 30, 2026, rejected it and handed down their decision.
(Full text of decision: https://coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/item/24057/index.do).
Reached for comment, Ms. Miranda said her lawyers "will enforce the order/judgment soon." It has been three months since that decision was promulgated, but her money doesn't seem to be forthcoming.
She asks in Tagalog: "May pera ba sya o naghihirap na? Bakit ang yabang niya sa Facebook pero hindi naman ako mabayaran." (Loosely translated: "Does she have money or has gone bankrupt? Why is she so arrogant on Facebook but couldn't pay me.)
She adds: "I want to know bakit hanggang ngayon hindi nya ako binabayaran ganung panay ang post nya sa Facebook ng mansion nya, tour nya around the world at panay ang sponsor nya ng mga events." (Translation: I want to know why she hasn't paid me, yet she posts on Facebook her mansion, tours, and sponsorship of events.)
An attorney for Ms. Miranda previously said Ms. Cusipag and Balita are "repeat offenders" as they have shown, in the lawyer's words, "a consistent practice of publishing false allegations of fraud against reputable individuals."
(Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ykwazA-WE).
(Related story: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/12/liwayway-miranda-aka-lily-hammer-gets.html).
In the annals of community journalism in Toronto, liability findings by courts of law of defamation by a tabloid publisher, especially because she's a self-declared editor without any training of background as a journalist, is quite rare.
Justice Akazaki took note of that in the decision finding Ms. Cusipag and Balita liable for defaming Ms. Miranda. (Full story: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/search?q=judge+lee+akazaki).
"Apart from her evidence that she took over Balita from her husband," the judge noted, "Ms. Cusipag did not provide any evidence of any training or background in journalism."
According to him, "Balita misused its position as a popular publication in the Filipino community as a bully pulpit to inflict harm to Ms. Miranda’s reputation."
As it stands today, Ms. Cusipag has accumulated three losses out of five defamation suits (two were dismissed) against her and the paper, and one jail time (sentenced to 21 days and released after serving13 days) for criminal contempt of court.
Monetary damages in all the cases, including the latest one by Ms. Miranda, have now reached close to $1.5 million. That could severely impact her oft-repeated boast that she's a millionaire. (Copyright 2026. All Rights Reserved.)
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