Currents & Breaking News

Monday, May 17, 2010

New Officers of Philippine Press Club Ontario

Elections chair Rosemer Enverga (right, foreground) inducts the new officers of the Philippine Press Club Ontario shortly after the elections on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at the Quiapo Quiapo Restaurant in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough.

Eagle-Eyed Watchers in Toronto Press Election

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News Commentary

Volume 4, Issue No. 6
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of 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 Monday, May 17, 2010

~ The robust Filipino media in Toronto took to their own polls on Saturday intent to make themselves visible in Canada's largest city. The well attended change-over was smooth. As he bowed out as president, journalist Tenny Soriano can lay claim to having instigated a proactive approach to what ethnic media can do in a city as big as Toronto. Soriano had transformed Filipino media from mere passive observer and chronicler of events. The new leadership promises to match, if not better, that legacy.
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COMMENTARY
Eagle-Eyed Watchers in Toronto Press Election

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO - One might laugh at this but it's true. One might say it's unbelievable but then again it's true. I'm talking about the election on Saturday (May 15, 2010) of the new officers of the Philippine Press Club of Ontario.

PPCO houses Filipino media practitioners in one compact organization that has a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and three directors.

Its 50-plus members represent the journalists, editors, publishers, writers, photographers, videographers and all those associated with print, broadcast, digital and web media in the province of Ontario, whose capital, Toronto, is Canada's largest city.

In the Greater Toronto Area alone, there are at least 15 Filipino fortnightly and monthly newspapers and magazines catering to a booming market of an estimated 250,000 Filipinos. The number is bigger than in San Diego, California where I published my own monthly newspaper, the Philippine Village Voice.

So with that robust media scene, it's not surprising that an election would be fully watched if not hotly contested. The presidency was a three-way fight. The positions of vice president, secretary and treasurer had two nominees each. Membership in the board of directors was contested by five.

What caught my interest was the number of eagle-eyed poll watchers. There were four looking over the shoulders of a five-member adhoc commission on elections as the counting started. Another watcher was on the floor, her eyes glued to the tally board.

For such a relatively small organization with such a few candidates and members voting, the number of poll watchers, to me personally, spoke of mutual distrust. It was as if one or the other party was poised to cheat, or that the volunteer tabulators would engage in miscount. But of course, I know that having poll watchers was part of the whole process.

Elections are always contentious. Everyone in that banquet hall in Quiapo Quiapo Restaurant in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough where the election took place knew that very well. In fact, the look of hostility was in the eyes of some candidates and supporters in the early hours of the day.

To the credit, however, of outgoing PPCO president Tenny Soriano, he defused the tension by asking the presidential contestants -- Paul de la Cruz, Tony Sicat and Ricky Caluen -- to come forward.

The three gentlemen gleefully obliged and then joined hands in a show of solidarity. For one fleeting moment captured by videos and still photos, unity was back where it proved to be elusive. At least on that Saturday in Quiapo Quiapo.

The new PPCO officers are: Paul de la Cruz, president; Rose Tijam, vice president; Risa Camal, secretary, and Mogi Mogado, treasurer. Members of the board of directors are Hermie Garcia, Jess Cabrias and Joy Sarmiento.

(This Currents & Breaking News commentary may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 6, May 17, 2010).

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Slain Filipina Housekeeper Hailed for Fighting Off Burglars in Toronto

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 5
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of 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, May 11, 2010

~ A tiny 27-year-old Filipina housekeeper had been strangled to death fighting off burglars in an upscale Toronto suburb where she kept watch over a huge mansion for her employers. On Tuesday, the widely-circulated Toronto Sun bannered her story that happened in 2007 and carried an account of the trial of two Ecuadorian immigrants that had begun the day before. "Maid Died a Hero," the newspaper headline screamed, instantly calling attention to the thousands of Filipinos who work as caregivers and nannies in Canada.

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Slain Filipina Housekeeper Hailed
as a Hero for Fighting Off Burglars

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO, Canada - A 27-year-old Filipina housekeeper who was killed fighting off burglars is being hailed here as a "hero," her tragic story bannered Tuesday (May 11, 2010) by the widely-circulated Toronto Sun.

The brutal slaying of Jocelyn Dulnuan, a native of Cagayan province in northern Philippines, in her employers mansion in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga in 2007, has highlighted the risks and dangers facing Filipino caregivers.

Toronto, capital of Ontario province, has the biggest Filipino population in all of Canada, running into over 250,000. A significant chunk of that number works as caregivers and nannies.

Government prosecutor (referred here as Crown Attorney) Steve Sherriff said Dulnuan tried to protect her employer's property by valiantly putting up a fight, and managed to scratch one of the suspect's arm and chest.

Authorities have identified and arrested two suspects -- Cristian Figueroa, 37, and Fabian Loayza-Penaloza, 39 -- who are both immigrants from Ecuador.

Members of the jury of 12 trying the suspects had scheduled a visit on Tuesday (May 11) to the scene of the crime, a huge mansion occupying 30,000 square foot in an upscale neighborhood in Mississauga.

Members of the media, including this reporter, had been advised by court authorities against joining the jurors during the tour of the mansion owing to concerns expressed by its owners.

At the trial's opening on Monday (May 11, 2010), Sherriff laid out the case against the suspects. He recalled the gruesome events leading to Dulnuan's death, which he said was caused by a copper wire, doubly wrapped tightly around her neck.

"The wire around her neck was knotted and pulled very tight," he said. "The Crown's case is that the wire was a murder weapon of opportunity".

The Toronto Sun said Dulnuan "was murdered for trying to be a hero".

In his account, Sherriff said Dulnuan appeared to be in the way of the planned burglary. "As long as she was conscious, she posed a problem" for the burglars, he explained.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no.5, May 11, 2010).

Friday, April 30, 2010

Online Links to Published Articles About NaFFAA

NaFFAA Stripped of Its Home in DC; Top Officials Resign as Organization Teeters

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 4
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of 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, April 29, 2010

~ For an organization supposedly as big as NaFFAA, silence in the past many months is deafening. Questions about its money-making and money-spending activities have been largely ignored. Now, a NaFFAA co-founder comes out with the revelation that it is in shambles. Senior officials have quit. The organization was driven out of its head office in Washington, DC because of rental problems. Even its non-functioning website is perpetually "being updated". Meanwhile, those whose hearts really bleed for NaFFAA are passing the hat to keep it afloat. Where are the thousands upon thousands of dollars that it used to brag having? What has been done to address the issue that at least $400,000 had been stolen?

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NaFFAA Stripped of Its Home in DC; Top
Officials Resign as Organization Teeters

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO - Just less than a year after a distress call was aired to officials of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) by its chairman Greg Macabenta, the supposedly US-wide organization is now staggering to death, abandoned by its senior officials and stripped of its home, according to one of its founders.

The lone holdout seems to be only Macabenta himself, propped up by a skeleton crew who sometimes makes NaFFAA's presence felt via social media, mainly the internet. Even NaFFAA's official website is on the throes of extinction, being perpetually under a state of "being updated".

As it now appears, NaFFAA is ready to tumble. "Our problem in NaFFAA is very serious," says Ernesto Gange, NaFFAA co-founder and chair of International Network of Filipinos Overseas Inc. in Philadelphia.

"We lost our NaFFAA National Headquarters in Washington, DC. We lost . . . , " he bewails, and listed the names of officials who quit.

Gange said NaFFAA's national executive officers he identified as Lourdes "Ludy" Corrales, national treasurer; Atty. Reuben Seguritan, legal counsel; Armando "Doy" Heredia, executive director and chief operating officer; and Leslie Talusan, secretary to the executive director; have already resigned their posts.

"NaFFAA runs on fumes," Gange stresses, quoting Macabenta's exact words. "We run out of gas," but "we will survive," he adds.

Gange has been scouting for what he calls "new players" to breathe life into the 13-year-old organization which he co-founded in 1997 with the now retired Alex Esclamado to unify Filipinos in America under one big umbrella organization.

"Life must go on, and together we will rebuild NaFFAA," he says in an email to this reporter.

It wasn't immediately clear when NaFFAA was kicked out of Washington, DC, but it effectively ended its presence in the US capital, mainly to complement its lobbying efforts. Previously, Macabenta had complained about not being able to pay rent for the NaFFAA office on time.

NaFFAA's present destitute state was a far cry from its early years when newspaper publisher Alex Esclamado and businesswoman Loida Nicolas-Lewis headed it in succession. At that time, NaFFAA seemed to enjoy wide support within and outside the Filipino community.

It fell into disrepute soon after journalist Bobby Reyes of Los Angeles, California began questioning its fund-raising activities and money-spending sprees. He also bewailed NaFFAA's arrogance, lack of transparency and accountability.

Reyes had sought office as a NaFFAA regional chair but was voted out in an election he claimed was rigged by NaFFAA officials who did not want him there. The incident has become known as "Ballygate" after the name of the hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada where it took place.

Huge sums of monies -- estimated at between $450,000 to $1 million -- are alleged to have been "stolen" from the organization through elaborate schemes by unnamed insiders. A proposal to create a fact-finding committee to investigate had been promptly nipped in the bud.

Previously, NaFFAA was also linked to a celebrated case in San Jose, California involving a community organizer named Ben Menor who had been indicted for grand theft and pleaded no contest to other charges.

According to Gange, NaFFAA's national conference normally held in September has been moved to October this year. Sources said there's very little interest in the conference, specially at a time when NaFFAA is reeling under.

"We have to pass the hat," Gange says, to pay some people who worked at NaFFAA. He said former NaFFAA chair Loida Nicolas-Lewis had volunteered to pay $20,000 out of $40,000 debt NaFFAA owed its executive director, and paid another employee for half NaFFAA owed.

"We passed the hat and paid for the balance," he explained.

"Atty. Reuben Seguritan resigned, out of frustration, because, when he was asked for his opinion with what to do with the unexplained missing funds, estimated to about $400K, before the attorney from New York could form a fact-finding commission, Ruben suggested for the manifesto. And, everything stopped," Gange stated.

NaFFAA has stonewalled on a number of questions posed by this reporter since last year.

"Regardless of what happened in the past, we owe it to ourselves to rebuild NaFFAA. We must nurture NaFFAA for the next generation of Filipinos, a vehicle to use, as their voice in America," Gange concluded.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no.4, April 29, 2010).

Monday, April 5, 2010

Journalists Demand Recall, Retraining of Philippine Labor Attache in Toronto

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 3
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

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The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Monday, April 5, 2010

~ Instead of being resolved, the controversy has turned for the worse. The aggrieved journalists who feel slighted and humiliated are now demanding the recall and retraining of Philippine Labor Attache Frank Luna. In a letter addressed to the Secretaries of Foreign Affairs and Labor in Manila, Filipino journalists in Toronto are calling Luna "obstinate, indifferent and aloof". They described his actions as "so undiplomatic x x x and marked by apparent arrogance". Though the journalists' move is unprecedented in Canada, it is not entirely without precedent. Several years back in Los Angeles, California, Filipino journalists succeeded in having a sitting consul general recalled, and another much earlier, in blocking the appointment of another at the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles.

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Journalists Demand Recall, Retraining
of Philippine Labor Attache in Toronto

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

TORONTO -- Calling him "obstinate, indifferent and aloof," the Philippine Press Club-Ontario has demanded the recall to Manila and retraining of Toronto-based Philippine Labor Attache Frank Luna.

The move, though a first in Canada, is not entirely without precedent in North America. Some years back in Los Angeles, California, Filipino journalists had succeeded in blocking the appointment of Tomas Gomez as consul general, and in recalling then Consul General Edwin Bael.

"To our humble mind, Mr. Luna should be recalled and required to undergo training in conducting himself accordingly," a copy of the letter made available to this reporter during the weekend, said.

The feud between the labor official and Filipino journalists here erupted in January after the former called the latter "morons" in a newspaper article many had suspected as having been ghost-written by Luna himself on behalf of a publisher and editor widely known in Toronto as a real estate agent.

Luna had previously denied the accusations. "As you will note," he explained, "I did not call Tenny Soriano and Mon Datol as morons – it is their word, not mine."

Soriano, president of PPCO and columnist of Balita newspaper, and Datol, director and publisher-editor of Philippine Courier, are two of the five signatories to the petition. The others are Ace Alvarez, vice president, who is also editor of Manila Media Monitor; Tony Sicat, director: and Mogi Mogado, treasurer.

In the article, Luna had indeed referred to an unidentified press club officer as "a moron" for suggesting that the citation awarded by Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose S. Brillantes to a mainstream newspaper reporter instead be given to Filipinos advocating for caregivers.

"The use of such language is unbecoming from no less than an officer of the Philippine government," said the PPCO in the letter addressed to Foreign Secretary Alberto G. Romulo and Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque. A copy was furnished Consul General in Toronto Minerva Falcon.

The whole text of the letter was also published in the April 2010 issue of Philippine Courier.

According to the signatories, Luna had utilized his friend's newspaper to respond to issues the journalists had raised concerning the award, specifically the recognition of community advocates who had also worked hard on behalf of Filipino nannies.

"Mr. Luna's responses x x x were so undiplomatic x x x and were marked by apparent arrogance," the PPCO said.

The club also alleged that Luna "has allowed himself to be exploited by Eddie Lee in discrediting the PPCO".

"It was funny enough for no less than an officer of the Philippine government in Toronto to respond through a print media (Lee's newspaper) which was not a party to comments made on the matter, and not through the same media where the comments emanated," the PPCO added.

Lee, a real estate agent, publishes the Atin Ito newspaper, which, like most publications in Toronto's Filipino community, are entertainment-oriented.

Atin Ito started out as a newsletter on agriculture, then eventually expanded to now include story reprints from Manila-based newspapers. Questions are now being raised about Lee's competence to edit the paper since he has no journalism background.

Lee has accused Soriano and Datol of "using" this reporter to push their own agenda. He says in Tagalog: "Upang maunawaan mo ang buntot at ulo ng intriga," referrencing his article in his paper's January issue. "Dito mo makikita ang paggamit din nila sa iyo."

Lee had not responded to inquiries from this reporter as to why he made such a conclusion. As for Luna, he was not immediately available to comment on this story as it was being written.

The PPCO complaint against Luna was first verbally told to newly-installed Consul General Minerva Falcon during her first press conference 10 days after she assumed office in early March.

(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no.3, April 5, 2010).