Filipino Web Magazine

Thursday, 6 August 2020

Mary L. Trump: 'I Can't Let Donald Trump Destroy My Country'

Volume 2, Issue No. 7

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 Thursday, August 6, 2020

~ "Having a well-developed ego," says Donald Trump, the star of The Apprentice in the 2004 book "Trump How to Get Rich" believed ghostwritten by Meredith McIver, "is a positive attribute . . . No ego means very little life force, and too much means a dictatorial personality". Sixteen years later and on the cusp of the end of his four-year presidency of the United States, that quote would find currency in the very words of his only niece, the clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump. who calls him a "narcissist". In her book "Too Much and Never Enough" subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," she writes that "the lies, misrepresentations, and fabrications (that) are the sum total of who my uncle is."

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'WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN'

Donald Trump: The Political Macho and Entertainer

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Power swells the head and shatters the crown.” ― Stewart Stafford

TORONTO - After endlessly waiting days, I finally got my two books about Donald Trump, not from Amazon where I had ordered them and canceled later, but from a Costco store nearby.

The books have stoked my interest mainly because of current developments in our neighbour to the south, particularly the runaway spike in coronavirus cases and deaths, the upcoming election, the growing civil rights protests, and fears Donald Trump would refuse to leave the White House should he lost in the polls.

Canada shares the world's longest international border with the United States at 8,891 kilometres or 5,525 miles. Of that stretch of frontier, the major portion or 2,727 kilometres (1,682 miles), is in Ontario province (whose capital is Toronto). The point is, as the saying goes, if the US sneezes, Canada catches a cold. Simply put, it only means developments in the US would have an immediate impact on us.

The 74-year-old businessman and entertainer that Trump is has been a political novelty as far as I am concerned, since being elected in 2016 as the 45th US president. He is seeking reelection for another four-year term, and the prospect of winning (which seems unlikely, some pundits say) worries many people because of his "penchant for division".

As the US election on November 3, 2020, approaches, the number of false statements, unfounded assertions, and outright lies he has spouted has multiplied over and over to the point that fact-checkers have a busy field day deciphering anything that comes out of his mouth. (Latest interview at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zaaTZkqsaxY).

The books now in my possession provide a clear insight into the man. The former US National Security Advisor John Bolton's "The Room Where It Happened" gives a sense of who and what kind of a president Trump is, and how he wields his power. (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/John_Bolton).

On the other hand, "Too Much and Never Enough" subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" by Mary L.Trump takes us in a very personal way to the innermost sanctum of the Trump family, revealing in the process how it functioned. (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Mary_L._Trump).

I have yet to finish Bolton's 577-page book while I'm mid-way through her 227-page familial account, but already, I honestly feel that I don't really have to spend long hours to understand why Donald Trump appears so shallow and idiotic he never should have been president from the get-go.

" . . . Donald x x x understands nothing about history, constitutional principles, geopolitics, diplomacy (or anything else, really) and was never pressed to demonstrate such knowledge, has evaluated all of this country's alliances, and all of our social programs, solely through the prism of money," she says in her book.

My personal and professional opinion as a journalist is expertly amplified by an authority, the book author no less, Mary L. Trump, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University in New York. She is the daughter of Donald's older brother Fred Trump Jr. and his only niece.

That Mary Trump would write such a book had been forced upon her by the events of the last three years of her uncle's presidency which witnessed the death from COVID-19 of at least 159,000 Americans, and confirmed cases of 4.85-million as of Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020.

(In contrast, Canada recorded 8,958 deaths; and 118,000 cases of COVID-19. The global total is 698,901 deaths, and 18,510,119 confirmed cases).

"By the time this book is published," she writes in the prologue, "hundreds of thousands of American lives will have been sacrificed on the altar of Donald's hubris and willful ignorance".

"If he is afforded a second term, it would be the end of American democracy," she warns. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yZJEI4TNMro).

The incumbent Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee in the November election versus the Democratic challenger Joe Biden, the US vice president from 2009-2017 under President Obama.

"I can't let him (Donald Trump) destroy my country," she declares.

From her viewpoint as a psychologist, she regards Donald Trump as a narcissist, which the dictionary defines as "a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish. ... a person who suffers from narcissism, deriving erotic gratification from admiration of his or her own physical or mental attributes".

"I have no problem calling Donald a narcissist - he meets all nine criteria as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) - but the label gets us only so far," Mary Trump writes.

Indeed, prior to her book, Donald Trump had made the admission in 2004 that, and I quote him: "I, like most men, am very vain. Many times over the years, I've heard people say that men are vainer than women, and I believe it . . . so I will admit to my vanity".

One need not go far and wide and attempt to be scholarly to find justification for her statement. Cable television, social media outlets like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook have daily accounts by reporters and political pundits of what's going on with Donald Trump in the White House.

An unforgettable experience was to watch him assumed the role of an expert presiding over a press conference where he suggested injecting the body with disinfectants to ward off the novel coronavirus. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=33QdTOyXz3w).

He has also repeatedly endorsed the use of hydroxychloroquine, the efficacy of which is controversial against COVID-19 (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/ 31/health/hydroxychloroquine- study-henry-ford-letters/ index.html).

He still refuses to wear a mask, although once or twice, apparently succumbing to pressure, did he cover his mouth momentarily. Where he says the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, the toll in confirmed cases and deaths would rise to new highs. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-6wIOKaHMWo).

He takes to twitter instead of offering words of comfort to the nation; calls himself a "wartime president" when his own wars - actually word wars - were petty squabbles with protesters, communities of color, health experts, and those who contradict him. (Video insight: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=_aFo_BV-UzI).

"Donald's penchant for division, and devastating uncertainty about our country's future have created a perfect storm of catastrophes that no one is less equipped than my uncle to manage," Mary Trump states.

"His ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, spinning, and obfuscating has diminished to the point of impotence in the midst of the tragedies we are currently facing.

"His egregious and arguably intentional mishandling of the current catastrophe has led to a level of pushback and scrutiny that he's never experienced before, increasing his belligerence and need for petty revenge . . .

Wednesday, 5 August 2020

A Lookback at Taste of Manila

Volume 2, Issue No. 6

Our latest as of August 5, 2020

(SUPPLEMENTAL READING related to new developments. Originally published as Currents & Breaking News commentary in June 2015 - Editor).

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Volume 9, Issue No. 29

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 . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Tuesday, June 23, 2015

~ Taste of Manila reels off again in August, its second in as many years, apparently undisturbed by public demands for it to show transparency in the conduct of its financial affairs. The flow of money is practically assured from sponsors and individual and corporate participants as organizers led by Toronto's faux "congen" prepares for a bigger turnout than it was last year. Meanwhile, would the nascent Taste of Manila and its mother organization, the alleged non-profit Philippine Cultural Community Centre, go the same route as the other associations so secretive about their finances?

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TASTE OF MANILA GOES DISTASTEFUL

One Street Festival and Three Financial Reports

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, Filipino Web Channel

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool. - Stephen King

TORONTO - When Rolly Mangante was hawking the idea of a street festival that has now metamorphosed into Taste of Manila (ToM), nobody paid much attention. The skepticism had much to do with him and his work as a contractual driver with the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.

There was an absolute lack of information about his background except that he's mockingly referred to as "the other congen" (meaning consul general). The same was true with the nascent ToM, and truer still with people around him who turned out to be his ToM teammates. Absent such essential data, his claimed brainchild ToM - which was not really his in the first place - was viewed as another questionable money-making scheme.

(New video featuring ToM officials is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZeQk-wySXY).

Mangante was quite open at the beginning, promising to be transparent every step of the way, understandably so because he was rallying public and corporate support for ToM, a highly successful event for obscure first-timers such as his group. The huge turnout attested to its phenomenal popularity.

As a community journalist, I had made a commitment to help. So before, during and after ToM's actual staging in August last year, I created, gratis et amore, a total of 12 news videos and wrote lengthy articles for my blog, online news outlets outside Canada, and for Balita, Toronto's largest Filipino newspaper where I'm an associate editor.

Not to toot my own horn but my coverage is unsurpassed by mainstream and community journalism standards. The news patches by Filipino newspapers were mainly to return the favor that ToM had accorded them, i.e., by advertising in their periodicals at a time when ToM was showing some success.

I never sought any favors for my stories that prove beneficial to individuals and companies or institutions; it's an outstanding personal and professional principle that guides me since choosing to be a journalist many years back, and ToM is no exception. (Video is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcZa99xeGW0).

I love to maintain my independence, untethered and unrestricted by personal favors and friendships so as to become an effective and impartial observer. While Mangante and some people in his group may be considered acquaintances, they're not real friends, for friends are people one trusts and relies on in extraordinary situations.

The simple act of opening up to share grief or happiness strengthens whatever bonds exist between two people and Mangante just doesn't come up to that fundamental criterion. Now that success is in his grasp because of ToM, he forgets his commitment to stay true to his words.

He can see this in a different prism but my basic journalism rule is still very much adversarial. Until I am proved wrong, I hang on to the belief that the best way to skin a cat is to skin it from head to foot mercilessly and without emotions.

My decades of journalism, including long stints as a foreign correspondent, would be for naught if this new breed of events organizers behind ToM - sorry I take back my earlier reference to them as community leaders; they are not - would be let loose without being accountable to the people from whom they stand to reap bundles and bundles of money.

I've asked more than once to look into ToM's true financial status and Mangante and his group didn't bother to respond, if only as a matter of courtesy. Still, I continue to believe in what Mangante had told me in 2014 interview that he would be up front and transparent.

One instance that is negating his public avowal is the email exchange between his colleagues Bong Capitin and Philip Beloso.

"It's not proper de quorum(sic)/attitude to disclosed (sic) confidential matter to people who are not part of our organization," Capitin wrote to "all concerns", stressing that "it's a common sense in any business owner that they don't want other people to know sensitive issue about their business".

To which Beloso responded in English and Tagalog: "Tama (correct) . . . everything should stay confidential within us. Kahit kay Mrs. wag nating sabihin" (even with our wives we should not tell).

One issue going around is that Beloso, who is in charge of event planning and entertainment, had sold tickets in cash and accepted sponsors' payments in cash. "There is no way to track if the money (they) received were deposited or not," a source in the organization said.

That's so revealing, so that in a press conference last month (that's May 19, 2015), ToM officials, consistent with that stance, spoke with a forked tongue.

ToM's secretary/treasurer Joseph Franco appears to be that way too. Early on he explained to the group that ToM is "not a business to say that we are 'nalugi or kumita' " (meaning ToM is not a business endeavour to say it lost or it earned).

"Isa lang masasabi ko. Pogi lahat tayo and don't mind these sour-graping comments," Franco added. (Loosely translated, he said: "One thing I can say. We're all handsome . . . ").

ToM's resigned auditor Eugene Deocareza calls Franco a "big liar". That was after Franco announced that charges have been filed against Deocareza by another ToM official, Bong Capitin, over unresolved business issues. As of this writing, the charges appear to be reiteration of earlier threats to stop Deocareza from talking.

Toronto accountant Paul Sollano suspects ToM officials are deliberately stalling on making a public statement about its financial performance in last year's ToM. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFKOcHhHKe4).

"I'd say they're doing the manipulation in an amateurish manner," he says when reached for comment. Sollano is the same knowledgeable person who described ToM's financial statement as "Mickey Mouse" Report for its "unacceptable and inaccurate" content. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFKOcHhHKe4).

Lately he found three different versions of the financial reports. Sollano explains:

"The figures for both revenue and expenses were overstated resulting in a higher loss. It was $25,550 before, now it is $27,830 or a discrepancy of $2,280.

"There was no mention of the asset and liability. As a result, the readers of the financial report have no clue how the deficit of $27,830 was financed. According to the previous report only $5,700 was advanced by the officers leaving a shortfall of $22,130 (27,830 less 5,700). The obvious question one would ask was there a promise to pay the supplier(s) owed by TofM?

"This time they were more specific in terms of the breakdown of the revenue - from sponsors ($28,500) and vendors ($42,500). But they did not provide the details of the expenses incurred such as rent, purchases of food and supplies, wages, insurance, professional fees, etc"

When I wrote an unflattering commentary about Mangante and ToM, the attack stories on me from San Diego, California (circa 2005, that's 10 years ago!) resurfaced again obviously to smear my reputation and neutralize me. That only goes to show how sick and slick these people are.

I'm not giving up. It'll take more than that to stop me from writing relentlessly about Mangante, his ToM buddies and the equally evolving PCCC (Philippine Cultural Community Centre), the seemingly innocuous organization primed to be ToM's community projects outlet. (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).

Monday, 3 August 2020

No ToM Street Festival in Toronto This Year

Volume 2, Issue No. 5

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Monday, August 3, 2020

~ The coronavirus pandemic was the perfect rationale for the going away of Taste of Manila (ToM) street festival sometime this month. Its staging this year, supposedly the sixth in as many years, had already been in doubt because of monetary difficulties and personal animosities among its officials. People wondered how a phenomenally successful community venture such as ToM could not stand on its own without financial assistance from various sources, including the City of Toronto. What went wrong?

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TO STOP THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

Toronto Cancels Taste of Manila, Other Events

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“If we’re really to give ourselves the best of ourselves, we have to be honest with the worst of ourselves.”

― Craig D. Lounsbrough

TORONTO - By this time or earlier, the frenzy builds up for what's indisputably the largest Filipino street festival in North America - the phenomenal Taste of Manila (ToM).

Since 2014 and up to 2019, ToM had commanded attention. Corporate entities, mom & pop stores, struggling entrepreneurs, the city government, and some of its agencies extended financial and in-kind support that guaranteed its staging for two days.

Five years and nasty in-fighting among its officers later, ToM is no more. It's dead by selfish interests and incompetence. It's gone by individual greed. The non-profit organization Philippine Cultural Community Centre (PCCC) that was initially behind it had disbanded because of conflicting interests of its members.

Then came another, the Philippine Legacy and Cultural Alliance (PLACA), also a non-profit organization, which seemed to be linked to a Toronto subsidiary of the recently-shuttered ABS-CBN broadcast network. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cIFfkpnQI).

Its Facebook account said that PLACA "aims to inspire the community to build and serve a strong, meaningful, and respectable Filipino-Canadian society through its community programs and cultural events".

PLACA's entry saw the ouster of top officials and created a new set of officers to handle ToM. It's basically a changing of the guards.

In 2019, ToM, now under PLACA, had what one official called "the best ToM" festival because of its partnership with ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel. "Everything was managed well, and all outstanding payables settled," it was explained.

ToM's unsurprising departure pre-dated the arrival of the novel coronavirus and the disease (COVID-19) it carries. With the virus still omnipresent, ToM's exit is a done deal. (Additional story at: https://www.balita.ca/taste-of-manila-goes-distasteful-one-street-festival-and-three-financial-reports/).

ToM was ailing badly and gasping for breath in 2018, almost deprived of life, until Toronto Mayor John Tory and Councillor James Pasternak resuscitated it by extending undetermined financial assistance and waiving some fees due to the city.

"We're not prepared to let Taste of Manila go by the wayside," the mayor declared then, sounding more optimistic that it would continue on and on in the years to come. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-PmytZ9wDE)

And so on the weekend of Aug. 17 and 18, 2018, ToM was on the Bathurst-Wilson streets again in the Little Manila corridor of Pasternak's North York district. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nICEcg3G0us).

Amidst the massive street dancing, the songs, and the food, little did people realize that it would be the second to the last ToM event they would be part of. The circumstances leading up to 2018's staging was already symptomatic of the many problems, financial or otherwise, that had afflicted it. (Videos at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Ji9YdqUP0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5bqjpeNJps).

Mayor Tory's positive attitude would be set aside as the coronavirus pandemic was far from being licked. As of July 30, 2020, Toronto's latest available data has listed 15,371 confirmed cases; 13,892 recovered cases; and 1,158 deaths.

"To slow the spread of COVID-19, the City of Toronto is extending the cancellation of City-led and City-permitted major festivals and events with attendance of 25,000 or more (including Taste of Manila) through August 31," a press statement furnished The Filipino Web Channel said.

"The decision x x x has been made in consultation with Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, the Emergency Operations Centre, Toronto Police Service, and major event organizers, and supports the directive that physical distancing is critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19," it added.

Mayor Tory has announced that the City will repurpose grant funding previously approved by City Council, in order to support festivals that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City's Cultural Festivals Recovery Program, he explained, will provide financial and in-kind support to defray financial losses for festivals that were canceled due to COVID-19.

A new group named Philippine Events and Services Ontario (PESO) has surfaced and appears to have taken the mantle to continue with ToM, even virtually, and changed it to "The Taste of Manila" or TToM. (https://www.thetasteofmanila.com/support-us).

I thought its acronym, PESO, was a fitting representation for money, the peso being the official currency of the Philippines. Apropos of its mandate, PESO is seeking community involvement by selling membership to the tune of $1,000 for a gold card; $500 for silver; and $300 for bronze.

It looks like an expensive undertaking. Why? Well, for comparison, a four-year membership with Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) is $250.00, or $62.50 per year, and I got to learn investigative reporting tips and given access to its resource center and specialized training. The Toronto-based National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada charges a membership fee of $50 a year for professional journalists.

"Get involve and become an Affiliate member and support make our community grow," reads its website blurb. "As Filipinos, we owe it to ourselves to foster our good culture in every part of the world. That being said, let’s start with this festival and be united to make a difference and be of help to other nationalities as we celebrate this festivity".

Thursday, 30 July 2020

Low-Income, Racialized Groups Hit Hardest by COVID-19

Volume 2, Issue No. 4

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Thursday, July 30, 2020

~ Toronto's visible minorities, Canada's demographic category that includes Filipinos, appear to bear the brunt of coronavirus infection, official data indicated. The release of a preliminary study on COVID's impact comes on the heels of the re-opening on Friday, July 31, of businesses and public spaces in the city, except for venues considered high-risk, which stay closed.

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IN TORONTO, CAPITAL OF ONTARIO PROVINCE

Visible Minorities Highly-Impacted by COVID-19

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

TORONTO - The coronavirus infection appears to have impacted more people among "racialized groups" or "visible minorities" in the city of Toronto than their Caucasian or white counterparts, new socio-demographic COVID-19 data reveal.

In findings from data collected from May 20, 2020, to July 16, 2020, Toronto Public Health has disclosed that:

• 83 percent of people with reported COVID-19 infection identified with a racialized group;

• 51 percent of reported cases in Toronto were living in households that could be considered lower-income; and

• 27 percent of COVID-19 cases were among individuals who live in households with five or more people.

"Frequently referred to as 'visible minorities' the term ‘racialized communities’ encompasses all people that are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour. Aboriginal peoples in Canada are sometimes excluded from this definition, but should not be," according to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness.

Per the official definition of Statistics Canada, Filipinos are among the "visible minorities" or "racialized group" which also includes South Asian, Chinese, Black, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean, and Japanese.

TPH did not identify the COVID-19-infected residents by ethnic group. Nor did it say how many "83 percent of people" actually represents.

As of Thursday, July 30, Toronto has registered 15,377 confirmed cases and 1,150 deaths. A total of 13,772 have recovered. Ontario-wide, there are 39,075 confirmed cases; 2,772 deaths; and 34,906 recovered. In entire Canada, the figure stands at 116,000 (including 476 new) confirmed cases; 8,917 (including 5 new) deaths; and 100,000 recovered.

"The data was collected from people infected with COVID-19 and who answered voluntary questions on these topics. These data are collected at the individual case level but being reported as overall data summaries and trends," TPH said in a press statement furnished The Filipino Web Channel on Thursday, July 30, 2020.

"This ensures that data are not identifiable and remain confidential. While there are some limitations with these data, they provide powerful insight into how COVID-19 is impacting our community," TPH explained.

According to TPH, earlier area-based findings suggested that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were more commonly reported among those living in areas with higher proportions of low-income earners and recent immigrants.

"Certain racialized groups were found to be over-represented in areas with higher COVID-19 case rates, including people who are Black, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Latin American," it said. "Over-represented" appears to be a euphemism for having the most number of COVID-19 cases in those racial groups.

“While COVID-19 has affected all of us, unfortunately it has had a greater impact on those in our community who face greater health inequities," said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health.

“In public health we have long known that it's your postal code, rather than your genetic code, that is the biggest driver of health," Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York), Chair of the Board of Health, commented.

"The social determinants of health – race, income, housing status – have long determined who gets sick, who lives, and who dies. This has always been the case: COVID-19 just exposed it for all to see," he added.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said “The data that has been collected and presented by Toronto Public Health will help us in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing us to help specific neighbourhoods that we know are being more severely impacted by COVID-19". (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).

The Pandemic Makes Us Look Older

Volume 2, Issue No. 3

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Thursday, July 30, 2020

~ It's cultural, the fear of aging, to paraphrase American author Ashton Applewhite. That comes to mind upon seeing members of the Philippine Senate suddenly turned older than when last seen before the novel coronavirus struck. For example, the well-coiffed Senator Vicente Sotto III, age 71, and Migz Zubiri, 51, presumably were in their natural state, except for this crown of white hair, when they attended the SONA. Prior to the pandemic and their evidently-dyed black hair then, they looked robust. Black hair rejuvenates and white hair depresses?

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GROWING YOUNG, GROWING OLD

Aging by Hair in the Time of COVID-19

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

TORONTO - In a span of five months, that's from March to July, people appeared to have turned many years older than their purported age.

At the State of the Nation address by President Rodrigo Duterte a few days ago, I saw videos of now white-haired Philippine senators Vicente Sotto III and Mike Zubiri looking so unlike themselves before the arrival of the coronavirus. I have yet to see Mr. Duterte in that same situation.

Hair, specifically white hair, does make a lot of difference in perception. Generally, a man (or woman) with greying hair is regarded as an old fogey, a grandpa or grandma, a person deserving priority in transit seating, a person entitled to senior discounts, etc.

As a boomer, I have experienced being offered a seat a few times while commuting during the rush hours, and I'm truly thankful for those who did so, even though I felt there were others more deserving than I.

I realized later at home that the culprit, or the cause of the burst of seat offerings, was not so much my physical appearance as my lengthy white mane. That countenance has conveyed the visual impression that since my hair was already silvery, and therefore old, I was entitled to one of the priority seats on the bus.

Right now, my salt-and-pepper hair appears to be thinning faster than I could grow a beard. This mixture of black, grey, and white is actually a return to its natural condition. I mean I started dying my hair black or brown only in Toronto for reasons other than vanity.

From the time the coronavirus struck, I've gone back to growing a ponytail. It's now eleven inches long from scalp to the tip of the hair. The length is twice shorter than when I first had it almost to the waist in my former hometown of San Diego, California. There I braided it sometimes.

Having a ponytail then was a political - not fashion - statement to indicate my journalism independence. I also wanted to show my non-conformity to the accepted and unchallenged norms which I thought hindered free and fearless expression of ideas.

I started to grow it in June 1998, the month and year I quit being editor-in-chief of the popular and most-read community newspaper, the Philippine Mabuhay News, after its owners had refused to publish my story critical of its main advertiser. (Full story at: https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2001/jun/14/cover-sinister-hero/?page=1&).

That same month, I published my own broadsheet paper, Diario Veritas, in time with the celebration of the centennial of Philippine independence on June 12, 1998. From that time on, people identified me as the journalist with the ponytail. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vcuamfGCI).

Not once was I mistaken for a covert operative, a detective, an undercover, and journalism was supposedly my screen. I was also thought of as a member of one of the Indigenous tribes, the First Nations people, who inhabited Canada before the Europeans packed them off to reservations. All those misconceptions because of a ponytail.

In 2014 in Toronto, I gave in to constant ribbing by friends and had my hair cut and dyed dark brown. Why not? I was starting a new life away from the antagonism that my investigative journalism had engendered in California.

So, after so much back and forth I finally succumbed to the kindly pressure. My friends then said tongue-in-cheek that the shorter hair and the disappearance of salt-and-pepper had made me look younger by ten years.

Well, I must have believed that for whatever comfort it gave me because in the years that followed until 2019, I was having a regular hair treatment courtesy of a close friend whose family I consider my own.

That changed, however, when one other friendship had gone sour because of professional and personal differences. Grow the ponytail back! I told myself. Make that statement again.

And so, I made the decision to free myself from the yoke of non-professionals who barely knew anything about journalism.

I didn't hesitate to uphold my journalism and gave up its practice in an environment that was selective and beholden to friends. I wanted my freedom back, detached, and untethered to selfish interests.

As of this moment, there's no better expression of this than in my lengthening ponytail, still abundant, and returning to its old salt-and-pepper self.

When I came to the US in the mid-1990s, I had pitch-black hair. As I became more engaged in community journalism, first in San Diego and now in Toronto, the plastic comb I use to groom myself catches more strands of hair every time.