Friday, March 30, 2012

PIDC Controversy: Rosemer Enverga Hints at 'Legal Action'




PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News
Currents & Breaking News 
Volume 6, Issue No. 15
/ 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 Friday, March 30, 2012


~ A press conference where officials promised transparency two weeks ago has kicked off a dust of controversy as calls are made to open the books on the community's biggest money-making ventures. "The cat is out of the bag," some wags say now. That remark testifies to the Fort Knox-mentality that had shrouded the financial situation of the not-for-profit Philippine Independence Day Council.


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PIDC CONTROVERSY
Rosemer Enverga Hints at 'Legal Action'

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ


Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)

and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)


TORONTO - A former official of the Filipino community's top organization has admitted that it was a "serious matter" to be dragged into a controversy involving funds and the running of beauty pageants, traditionally rich sources of revenues for cash-strapped charities.

"Any allegations can be a basis for a legal action," says Rosemer Enverga, the erstwhile chair of three beauty contests under the aegis of the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), the non-profit umbrella with claimed membership of nearly 300 associations.

She was reacting to a public statement by Minda Neri, PIDC's immediate past president, that PIDC "never had a proper accounting from her (Enverga)" when she left PIDC last year and formed her own group that also has a beauty pageant component.

Latest attempts to seek clarifications from Enverga proved futile as she did not reply to questions to put the issue to rest. Instead, she referred the matter to the PIDC treasurer last year, Al Tupe.

"Al Tupe will confirm as per our telephone conversation x x x that all financial documents were submitted to him and had no problems whatsoever in procuring what he needed from me to complete the reports," Enverga states.

But there was not any word from Tupe from that time Enverga said he would communicate.


"Minda (Neri) should be communicating with Al (Tupe) before making any allegations because this is a serious matter and can be a basis for a legal action," she adds.

Whether or not that statement is a hint that she would seek legal redress or a warning to stop the flow of stories is not exactly clear. In the meantime, she found an audience to ventilate her disappointment.


Upset by an earlier story, Enverga was reported to have "cried" at a recent birthday gathering attended by the local chapter of the Knights of Rizal where her husband, Tobias "Jun" Enverga, is a ranking member. He also happens to be an elected trustee of the 12-member Toronto Catholic District School Board representing Scarborough ward.
 
An eyewitness account published in the e-group of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) in Toronto stated that the Enverga couple - who are not UPAA members - "shared their concern with us UPians" and "spoiled" the birthday bash of a member.

“ 'The publication of this controversy, which happened two years ago, is very unfair,' Rosemer and husband Jun Enverga, who is an elected School Board Trustee, lamented," wrote a certain Livvy Camacho in the e-group. 

The couple's reaction was the first and only public feedback since questions involving PIDC funds arose two weeks ago.

It was Tess Cusipag, publisher and editor of Balita newspaper, who posted the story written by this reporter with the headline: "WAS THERE WRONG-DOING? PIDC in a Bind: To Pursue or Not  Alleged Purse-Holder". (News video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvfAV26CIQ&feature=channel)

"We are doing this to our community not to glorify or destroy anybody but for the information of everyone," Cusipag stresses in defending her action. "If there was no controversy about money or anything then there is nothing to worry about".

Camacho is apparently a friend of the Envergas, and even advocated allowing them to rebut the published story in what was supposedly an e-group limited to UPAA members only. 

In fact, Camacho, on the pretext of a "level playing field", posted Ms. Enverga's reply, to wit: "I do not understand why the editor of Balita, Ms Tess Cusipag, is bringing up this issue to the UPAA Group. All financial affairs of the pageants under my responsibility were reviewed and validated by the PDIC treasurer, Al Tupe, and there have been no questions raised until this time - 2 years later. I am sure we can be a more cohesive community without smearing the good name of those who serve voluntarily and dedicate themselves in the service of the community." 

To this, Cusipag responded: "All they (the Envergas) had to do is to prove that there was no wrongdoing, but to approach the people and get sympathy to the point that we are being blamed for it then you are harbouring a culprit".

"We are going to scrutinize like anything that we have done before till the culprit produces the necessary paperwork that will clear their names," Cusipag added, explaining that the newspaper, which used to be run by husband Ruben, now retired, is an advocate for transparency.

"It is better if there is a legal case so there is an examination for discovery," Cusipag emphasizes. "By then she will be forced to present all documents rather than ignoring all of us".

Camacho's posting of Enverga's message also drew a rejoinder from another UPAA member, Joe Rivera, who complained, thus: "I don't know why you (referring to Camacho) are bringing up the idea of giving everyone a level playing field when posting in this forum. This is already given, not just an assumption, but a reality since  this forum is in cyberspace and virtually shared with everyone.

 "Just because Tess Cusipag has access to this forum and Rosemer Enverga does not have doesn't mean there is an 'imbalance of power of access.' Even your concept of 'balance of power' is nebulous to me". 

Rivera continued: "Why complain about the PIDC posting in our forum as if this really matters to our membership? They can have access just the same, through your generosity of giving them space so their side can be heard, which you actually did".

When confronted in an email why questions are being raised now, or two years after the fact, Ms. Enverga did not respond.

This reporter told her that the main reason, as culled from interviews, was that she had stonewalled on the issue. The reports she claims she had submitted were piecemeal and incomplete, according to those asked to shed light on the matter but would not want to be identified.

The mini-controversy generated by the e-group postings has distracted from the main issue, which was the alleged incomplete reporting of financial matters by Ms. Enverga.

Neri has already highlighted the helplessness of the PIDC in getting financial documents from her to the point of resorting to legal remedies. That has not materialized because of what Neri said was lack of time and money.

"We have a decision not to pursue during my term anyways because there's so much work to do and we need that money to spend on our activities. If in the future we will have extra money, it would be Norma's (Carpio) decision whether she would pursue. But right now, no," Neri stated at a press conference on March 14.

Reached for comment, Carpio does not appear poise to pursue the issue at this time because of hectic preparations for the upcoming Mabuhay Festival in June. #



(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author or the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 6, Issue no. 15, March 30, 2012. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).







Other stories available at: http://digitaljournal.com/user/130094/news 





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Thursday, August 18, 2011



Friday, August 12, 2011

War of Words Has Replaced War of Annihilation

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 19
/ 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 Friday, August 12, 2011
~ The war of annihilation at the turn of the 20th century had ended more than a 100 years ago but the war of words as to how to categorize it has not abated. A youth group in Toronto called Kamalayan has that verbal discrepancy underscored as it conducts an awareness campaign of Philippine history. Last week, Kamalayan put up a booth at a popular square in downtown Toronto where volunteers explained ancient and contemporary Philippine history in hopes of educating those who cared to listen.

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A poster mounted on an easel shows a Filipino child on display in the United States. It's like a "human zoo," says Alex Felipe of the show.

CREATING AWARENESS OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Philippines Says It's 'War'; US Insists It's 'Insurrection'


By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)


TORONTO - In the eyes of Filipinos, the bloody armed conflict at the turn of the 20th century between the Philippines and the United States was a full-scale war.

Americans, on the other hand, perhaps embarrassed by their failure to "pacify" the islands after they took over from Spain in 1898, called it an "insurrection", which implied acceptance of and subservience to US authority.

In the name of "pacification" one entire village in the central Samar province was turned into a "howling wilderness", as described by the American general who implemented the campaign that saw the massacre of thousands of Filipinos from 10 years up.

The telling and re-telling of this sad chapter in Philippine history vary from American mouth to Filipino mouth, as it is from many US and Philippine history books.

But the truth has not been contested - the conflict had claimed casualties in the hundreds of thousands, or upwards of one million people.

In Toronto, a Filipino youth group is conducting a Philippine history awareness campaign through workshops and community outreach. The latest was at the Filipino Making Waves Festival in Yonge-Dundas Square during the two-day weekend (Aug. 6 and 7, 2011).

"The goal is to tell Filipinos about their history," says Alex Felipe, co-organizer of Kamalayan (awareness), in an interview. "The history I tell is from the point of view of the masses of the people in the Philippines."

Alex Felipe, co-organizer of Kamalayan.
 "Often, a lot of the history that I give is a little bit different from the mainstream. That's not to say that I don't give also the mainstream history. I will also give that and put it in context with the more progressive versions of the history," Felipe stresses.

Kamalayan's booth at the festival had attracted curiousity from a mix crowd of onlookers and history buffs because of the huge photographs mounted on easels showing American atrocities during what the Americans called Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902 and which Filipinos referred to as Philippine-American War.

The US colonized the Philippines after Spain - the country's imperial colonizer for more than 300 years - sold the islands for $20 million in 1898, the same year Filipino revolutionaries declared independence. On July 4, 1946, the US granted the Philippines its own version of independence.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 19, August 12, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

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At Vimeo:
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For other stories, please visit:
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4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
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Thursday, August 4, 2011

PIDC Barks, Gets a Slap on the Wrist

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 18
/ 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 Thursday, August 4, 2011
~ Coming from a diplomat, it's probably the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. Nevertheless, what's important is the demonstrated commitment by Philippine authorities to unbridled practice of freedom of the press, which, unfortunately, is lost in PIDC (Philippine Independence Day Council), the self-appointed prime mover of community festivities in Toronto's Filipino community. Irony of ironies, PIDC advocates selective censorship that favors media friendly to the organization and its officers. "Stop whining," a PIDC official barks at local journalists. To which Consul General Pedro Chan reacts: "We should give media freedom it deserves".
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"STOP WHINING," PIDC OFFICIAL BARKS AT JOURNALISTS
Top Diplomat Censures Media Censors at PIDC



By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)

TORONTO - Short of publicly chastising organizers for imposing on Filipino journalists, the top Philippine diplomat in Toronto said media should be given all the freedom it deserves rather than repress it.

Philippine Consul General Pedro O. Chan


Consul General Pedro Chan was reacting to news reports that local reporters were protesting the imposition of a waiver by the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) at last week's Mabuhay Festival at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

"When it comes to media people, there should not be any waiver," he stressed in an interview with The Filipino Web Channel.

Selected journalists were not allowed to cover the PIDC event without signing the waiver. Journalist Butch Galicia tore his press accreditation wrist band, firmly refusing to sign the paper and walked out of the event.

A copy of the PIDC waiver.
"What is 'independence' if they shackle one with a red wristband that smacks of press censorship?" Galicia asks.

Though the ranking executive officials of PIDC remained silent on the issue and did not respond to questions, one PIDC adviser has acknowledged that "mistake were (sic) done" by the organization in imposing the waiver. He then asked local journalists to "stop whining".

As the controversy over PIDC's unprecedented requirement spread in Filipino communities around the world, Chicago-based journalist Joseph Lariosa suggested that local media ask the Philippine Consulate to stop PIDC from using "Philippine Independence Day" in its activities.

"The PDIC organizers should come up with another name but not 'Philippine Independence' if the Philippine Consulate wants to promote press freedom," says Lariosa in an email to this reporter.

A waiver that PIDC required of some journalists to sign before they could cover its Mabuhay Festival last week has sparked an outcry from media in Canada and the United States.

"The waiver is destroying the image and spirit and name of Philippine Independence," Lariosa states.

In the meantime, Manuel Villamor, a member of PIDC's council of leaders, admitted the mistake. It's not clear, however, if he was speaking on behalf of the organization or of its executive officers who have remained tightlipped about the issue.


Manuel Villamor

"Things happened . . . mistake were (sic) done . . . stop whining . . . get on with life . . that's the only way we can all improve and be happy," Villamor wrote in his telegraphic-style reaction.

Lariosa proposed that the consulate or Philippine embassy tell PIDC to drop the words "Philippine independence" in their undertaking because they contradict the very essence of freedom.

 
"If the Philippine Consulate will ignore your petition x x x community media practitioners are going to boycott the use of press releases of the Philippine Consulate, Philippine Embassy and Department of Foreign Affairs," he says. "If this does not work, then, you can write a letter to President Noynoy Aquino."

Consul General Chan said having a waiver, which amounted to censorship, and preaching independence were a contradiction.

"That's why Filipinos fought and died for because of independence and yet some people will stifle the media which are exercising it. That should never be," he emphasized.

"We are in a free society. And Philippine media is known to be the freest in the world . . . licentious even. But still we get more advantages for being that than for being restrictive . . . " Chan said.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 18, August 4, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

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 For other stories, please visit:

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2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
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5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/  

Friday, July 29, 2011

Filipino Journalists in Canada, US Decry Censorship

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 17
/ 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 . . . . . .

Hall E of Metro Toronto Convention Centre where Mabuhay Festival took place.
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Friday, July 29, 2011 ~ A waiver that selectively allows only the "friendly" writers unrestricted access to its events is the very antithesis of the freedom Filipinos fought and died for. That essence has been lost in Saturday's (July 23, 2011) staging of Mabuhay Festival by Philippine Independence Day Council and ABS CBN-TFC. Now, journalists from across Canada and the United States are protesting the unprecedented imposition. One journalist asks: Is PIDC, a non-profit organization, hiding some mischief?
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IT'S CENSORSHIP, AN INFRINGEMENT ON PRESS FREEDOM
Journalists Protest PIDC's Waiver on News Coverage

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)

TORONTO - An innocuous-looking piece of paper is kicking up a storm of controversy in the Filipino community after a local newspaper editor tore his media wrist band in disgust and walked off a press coverage during the weekend.

The incident provided the anticlimax to the staging of the Mabuhay Festival, a whole-day feast of songs, dances and food at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre that's still part of Philippine independence activities more than a month ago.

Officials of Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), the umbrella organization that undertook the event in Toronto, had asked journalists to sign a waiver requiring them to get PIDC's permission to use their own film footage or photographs and to provide PIDC with copies of their works.

A press accreditation in the form of a red wrist band was withheld if a journalist refused to sign the waiver, as did happen to this reporter.


Site of Mabuhay Festival on Saturday, July 23, 2011.
 When confronted with a waiver, another writer, Butch Galicia, editor of a monthly community paper in Toronto, firmly refused to sign it. He then cut his wrist band in protest and returned the remnants to the volunteers at PIDC's media booth.
 "It's an infringement on the press, a censorship," he told this reporter in an interview minutes after the incident on Saturday (July 23, 2011).

A co-sponsorship of the event by ABS CBN-The Filipino Channel, the Philippines' largest broadcast network, might have triggered the imposition to protect its talents from exposure, according to officials who did not want to be identified because of their ties with PIDC. The network brought at least seven performers from its base in Manila.


PIDC and ABS CBN-TFC co-sponsored the event. How much did PIDC get from the arrangement?

Journalist Tenny Soriano said he signed the waiver to get inside the hall and did not mind it because he wasn't taking pictures or videos. Later he realized it wasn't right that he'd be subjected to the requirement while others - those friendly with PIDC - were not.
 "Is it because some reporters belonging to the Philippine Press Club - Ontario (a social club) have connections with PIDC?" he asked.

PPCO officials, namely Paul De la Cruz, Mogi Mogado, Riza Khamal and Hermie Garcia, did not respond to queries emailed to them on July 26.

PIDC president Minda Neri also did not reply to inquiries.

"I guess those responsible for even thinking of the waiver had so unceremoniously implied a formal declaration that separated those who could really do journalistic work from those who pretend and could not do so," Galicia said.

He said the PIDC waiver was "censorship of the highest degree clothed in sheepskin".

"It smacks of the lack of respect some people have over those who have humbly bestowed on themselves the now-I-understand-as-the 'useless second-class' rag tag as 'community journalists.' The waiver's face value -- even without reading the words -- simply says: 'Kowtow to us or you'll never get anything good from us'," Galicia stated.

He stressed that it was also an infringement on press freedom "because it can dangerously place a practicing journalist on the plateau of bias and mistrust after being threatened with what the organizers implied as their doubtful, if not dubious, intentions".


A typical scene inside the festival hall.
News of the waiver imposition has generated a backlash of angry comments from journalists across Canada and the United States. Such requirement apparently has no precedence in Filipino community organizing in both countries.
"Who do those PDIC people think they are? I believe Canada has the same freedom of the press like the United States'," says Chicago-based columnist Don Azarias.

A practising lawyer in Toronto with years of working experience in media said "The author is apparently just trying to be cute, and unfortunately found in the waiver outlet for the legal talent that he thinks he has".

"In any event, the caveat in legal gibberish is a nullius in verba -- obviously unenforceable within the context of the very public event. Wika nga, threat lamok," he says laughing.

Seattle, Washington-based journalist Jesse Jose agrees. "Yes, this so-called waiver is plain and simple censorship. And in capital letters too. This event is a public event right in the heart of downtown Toronto, and they're curtailing journalists to report on it. So stupid, I think".

He continues: "I think it's laughable that journalists who want to cover this PIDC event and write about it have to have a 'written permission' from officials of this group. They must be a bunch of ignorant morons. Haven't they heard of 'freedom of the press'? What are they hiding? What do they fear."

Print and broadcast journalist Ace Alvarez said he did not believe that the waiver, as worded, is censorship or an infringement on press freedom.

"However," he emphasizes, "having the journalists sign the waiver is a stupid act, since journalists may write and publish, produce and air on radio and television whatever and however they wish to present their stories".

"A waiver of such nature as PIDC asked journalists to sign goes to show that the PIDC people themselves do not understand the nature of our work," Alvarez says.

"In addition to a very poorly worded piece of document, the PIDC did not accomplish something, except perhaps, to get a free copy of the news article and/or the radio/tv production, or perhaps free photos from those who took them -- if those who took them would even respect the waiver they signed," he added.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 17, July 29, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:

The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767

For other stories, please visit:

1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/  
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/  

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

PIDC: One Monstrous Gaffe After Another

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
OPINION/COMMENTARY
Volume 5, Issue No. 16
/ 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, July 26, 2011
~ PIDC (Philippine Independence Day Council), the self-appointed prime mover of community festivities related to freedom day in Toronto, has gone from bad to worse. What it calls "a slew of successful events" were attended by one monstrous gaffe after another, generating unflattering comments from independent media, the group that's apparently targeted to have a hard time with the organization. At its festival on Saturday (July 23, 2011) at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, PIDC became selective in allowing who to cover its events, favoring the "friendlies" with easy access and saddling the "unfriendlies" with a requirement that amounts to censorship and media infringement. It's unbridled prejudice against those who question its affairs as a non-profit organization.

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The vinta was the design motif of the festival.
 PREROGATIVE
Toronto's PIDC Has Gone from Bad to Worse

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)


TORONTO - I went there with an open mind. I wanted to disprove my growing perception that Philippine Independence Day Council was not at all callous to journalistic inquiries. I needed to find out the truth in the portrayal by some Filipino newspapers that top PIDC officials, notably Minda Neri, were really good, honest and capable leaders.

My earlier unsympathetic impressions were ready to be cast off this Saturday, June 23, 2011 at the staging of yet another feast at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the Mabuhay Festival led by PIDC and co-sponsored by Kapamilya of TFC.

It's hard to say it's a community event unless the Kapamilya subscribers - meaning those who pay to watch the endless stream of soap operas and the usual singing, shrieking and dancing on TV - are the community.The more accurate way to say it is that PIDC-Kapamilya is just a fraction of a bigger community.

An event of greater significance to me was the huge picnic, also on Saturday, by the Bicolanos at Earl Bales Park, which I missed, unfortunately, because of another commitment. Between PIDC's extravaganza and this picnic, I prefer the latter simply because one finds true hospitality and real friendship there, not the fancy smiles of false teeth and the pretense of warm greetings PIDC is quite famous for.

I had intended to come at my usual time, which is at least 15 minutes before the event. On Saturday it was impossible to do that, for, again, the PIDC festival conflicted with the launching of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines - Canada. I had no second thoughts going to the latter.

The reason is that PIDC's entertainment fare was nothing new and could be accessed anytime on TV. Besides, the PIDC officials I had eagerly wanted to interview would surely become so busy again, chatting and eating, or simply hiding from the prying eyes of the press.

On the other hand, it's quite rare to break bread with colleagues in the working press for their time is as valuable as mine. Therefore, one need not belabor it, just go to NUJP, which was what I did.

When the NUJP event ended in mid-afternoon, I decided to go with friends to the PIDC festival. In the car with journalists Tenny Soriano and Butch Galicia, my mind was wandering. Would I be able to get somebody from PIDC to talk about Mabuhay Festival, its latest money-making venture? The PIDC is one fat cow again, I mused, but is it a milking cow?

Then I remember my experience a month ago at the PIDC picnic at Earl Bales Park where one monstrous gaffe after another came in torrents. My mind also thought about the miscues at the PIDC flag-raising at Queen's Park on June 12 and the gala event preceding that that saw an agitated Consul General Pedro Chan silently protesting the shabby treatment he got from PIDC partygoers who seemed enamored with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

After almost an hour snaking through the maze of side streets from High Park, we finally reached Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown. Tenny Soriano had repeatedly assured me that he had included my name in a list of reporters submitted to PIDC for accreditation to cover the festival.

Well, I thought that it was unncessary because PIDC officials knew who the real journalists are from card-collecting pretenders who are supposedly reporters, writers, photographers, etc. of some local newspapers. By face, if not by name, they could tell who's who. But PIDC had to be in control and the requirement made the organization look powerful.

While waiting at the lounge, I decided to take a quick look at the festival at one of the centre's function rooms in the basement. I wore my press credentials and brought out my camera. Then I walked into the cavernous hall, unchallenged by volunteers, aides and security guards.

Inside, I took videos and pictures and even had a brief interview with some business people while the PA system blared so loud the sound, perhaps amplified a thousand times, could shatter one's eardrums and let loose a spoonful of earwax. A face-to-face conversation was impossible to conduct.

I walked around the length and breadth of the whole area trying to compare a similar event by the Philippine Canadian Charity Foundation-Kapuso a month earlier in the same building.

It's no longer a question of which attracted the most number of people, rather, it was a question of which had the big splash. PCCF-Kapuso was huge, in fact, it was the biggest fiesta by Filipinos. PIDC-Kapamilya was also sizable, the magnitude of its bulk could be measured in the way they jammed the hall with ear-splitting noise and the choreographed shrieks of fans.

The crowd wait for their favorite talents.

I could not stand the noise level. If I had wanted good entertainment, the place to go was not this PIDC event. But I was working, so I lingered for another five minutes, then happily walked out of the hall. At the lounge area on the ground floor, Butch Galicia was narrating his bad encounter with PIDC officials at the media booth.

"Sayang wala ka doon," he greeted me as I approached him. Why, what happened, I asked.

He got his accreditation, which was not an ID card or anything, but a red ribbon the media volunteers tied around his wrist. He said he tore it after he was asked to sign a waiver.

Nobody in his right mind would, so Butch firmly refused, and gave back the piece of paper. "It was an infringement on press freedom," he said.

Curious about the incident I went down to see if the volunteers would do the same thing to me. I had entered the hall earlier without anybody checking my press credentials and did not tell anyone in the media booth until later.

I told the volunteers my name, showed my IDs and asked to be given the accreditation. The man and woman volunteers searched for my name in their list and it wasn't there. The woman asked for my name again and my media outfit. Instead of answering her, I showed my press cards with my name, picture and media entities I represent.

She looked up the list again. There was no name like my name. Then the other woman repeated, for the third time, the question of what newspaper I write for. To make it understandable, she mentioned names of newspapers she's most familiar with.

I replied that I already gave her my answer - that I don't have a newspaper! I said everything you wanted to know about me can be found in my press cards. "Hmmm, Digital Journal, what's that?" I almost lost my temper. But I held on, realizing now that the people at the media booth are a bunch of misinformed if not ignorant volunteers.

One of the volunteers called a PIDC official, Imie Belanger, who recognized me and motioned the volunteers to give me a red ribbon. Before they would put it on my wrist, they asked me to sign the waiver.

A copy of the waiver PIDC asked journalists to sign.

I asked what it was, and the man said in Tagalog: "don't worry, it's not something that would land you in jail". I examined the piece of paper and took photographs of it. Butch Galicia was right and I agree with him. This is simply censorship by PIDC.

After taking pictures of the waiver, I told Imie Belanger and her volunteers that I really didn't need the red ribbon. Neither do I want to cover the event in exchange for signing the waiver.

As a matter of fact, I already got in there just to test the system, and did interviews, took videos and pictures. I had no interest going back. With that said, I gave back the red ribbon and the waiver.

Coming out of the convention centre, I realize that my initial impression about PIDC was correct. This Saturday, PIDC has just gone from bad to worse.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 16, July 26, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).

Among the prominent people who attended the festival.

My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:

The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767

For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/  
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/  
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/