Volume 8, 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@aol.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . .
Our latest as of Friday, October 2, 2026
~ Officials of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada are grumbling over the decision by the federal government slashing monetary aid to local publishers to the tune of $93 million. The cutback came in the wake of an exposé by a Filipino journalist who had complained about being lied to and deceived by editors of The Philippine Reporter, the now-defunct tabloid and a recipient of grant money whose owners and their underlings no longer appear in the roster of the media association.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FEDERAL GOV'T CUTS AID TO PUBLISHERS
Did Ethnic Media Kick Out
Garcia Couple for Deceit?
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor
Filipino Web Magazine and Filipino Web Channel
"Being dishonest isn't an innocent mistake - it's a deliberate act of deception." - Frank Sonnenberg
TORONTO - For the past three monthly meetings ending in August, the names of Hermie Garcia and wife Mila A. Garcia, the conjugal editors of the now-defunct The Philippine Reporter (TPR), were markedly missing from the roster of attendees of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC).
The non-appearance is significant in many ways, especially because they are the main characters in their self-created myth concerning two reporters, a substantial amount of money, and a federal government entity.
Their absence from the list could mean either of two things - one, they were booted out, and two, they resigned, or asked to resign, or forced to resign.
A third plausible reason may be that NEPMCC officials woke up to the reality that they're harboring questionable individuals and had to do something to save the organization from disrepute.
Either way, the Garcias' presence there as NEPMCC officers is a huge embarrassment for the ethnic press following the revelation that they lied and deceived two writers of their salaries and put the blame on a fictitious individual in Canadian Heritage, the federal agency funding the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI). (Full story at:
In June, July, and August, the Garcias and three of their underlings - namely, Veronica Cusi, Lui Queano, and Rick Esguerra - were no longer listed in the NEPMCC website. Their last attendance was recorded on April 13.
(Background video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLvaII3dtMw)
The unreported development contained in the minutes of the NEPMCC meetings has given rise to talks that their removal or departure could be an offshoot of the scandal spawned by the complaint of TPR staff writer Michelle Chermaine Ramos who also reported for LJI under an arrangement between TPR and NEPMCC.
Ms. Ramos had initially inquired with NEPMCC, the implementing arm of LJI which is funded by Canadian Heritage, why her salary had been delayed for months. (Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJc42WrFRQ).
The response by Maria Saras-Voutsinas, NEPMCC executive director, jolted her, explaining that there should not have been any problem receiving her pay as the full amount of the LJI grant money had been released to Hermie Garcia in advance of the program.
The Garcia couple had been telling Ms. Ramos that the delay was being caused by a so-called grant guy in Canadian Heritage who allegedly controlled the salaries and sent them out in trickles.
That's when the lies and deception by the Garcias unraveled and prompted Ms. Voutsinas to say what they did to Ms. Ramos was "technically criminal."
(Related stories:
The causal link, if any, between the deception by the Garcias inadvertently exposed by Ms. Ramos and the cutback in government funding has not been established as of this writing. But just the same, media officials are up in arms.
Thomas Saras, NEPMCC president, and Joe Volpe, a member of the executive board, have decried the decision by the federal government to downsize its financial support to the Aid to Publishers program amounting to $93 million. (Related video:
While both condemned the cutback, their understanding appears contradictory.
Saras categorized it as "the proposed reduction of approximately $93 million" while emphasizing that "such a significant cut would create serious challenges for ethnic and community publications that rely on this support to continue serving their Canadian readers."
Volpe, on the other hand, indicated the aid had already been slashed. He conveyed "the strong concerns and frustration of publisher and editors arising from the sudden reduction in funding . . . "
"These funding cuts," the NEPMCC website quoted him, "had been implemented despite the collective contributions of ethnic media, which plays a significant and often broader role than mainstream media in serving diverse communities and addressing information gaps."
How Hermie Garcia, Mila A. Garcia, and Ms. Ramos' complaint figured in the decision to prune the $93 million grant money could not be ascertained, if at all.
But one thing seems to be clear now. For three consecutive meetings of the NEPMCC, the names of the Garcia couple and their cohorts no longer appear in the list.
Thrown under the bus? Dumped? Banished? Ditched? Call it what you may but it all amounts to a disgraceful exit. Yeah? (Copyright 2026. All Rights Reserved).
