~ Some members refused to heed the warning by another member against electing a leftist sympathizer to head the local press association. So by a plurality of four votes, the left-leaning Hermie Garcia won the presidency, collecting 17 as against his rival’s 14, out of 47 members. A month and a half later, the publisher and editor of Toronto’s largest Filipino newspaper, expressing an almost universal concern, warns against misusing the press club to corner monetary grants. Previously, another member also cautioned against turning it into a platform for left-wing ideology.
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TORONTO – The publisher and editor of the largest Filipino newspaper in the Greater Toronto Area has complained against the reported abuses and favoritism by the recently-elected leader of the local press club who is also a media capitalist.
The grievance against leftist sympathizer Hermie Garcia, president of the 47-member Philippine Press Club Ontario (PPCO), a social club, was signed and emailed by Tess Cusipag, chief executive of Balita, one of the oldest tabloids in the Filipino community of a quarter-million people.
” . . . you have to answer a lot of questions” and “be responsible to answer them all as truthfully as you can,” wrote Cusipag, wife of veteran journalist and Balita founder Ruben Cusipag, now publisher and editor emeritus.
A lifetime member, Ruben is also one of the founders of PPCO. Tess is a regular member. (Full story: http://www.balita.ca/about/the-editor/).
Ms. Cusipag’s complaint stemmed from the way Garcia treated this reporter who went to cover a PPCO event at a neighbourhood coffee shop on the couple’s behalf. (Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4vVh6sZsPc).
Garcia refused the coverage, saying it was “a private gathering”. He even asked his PPCO colleagues to call the police when this reporter, saying his presence there was to represent Balita, defied his demand to leave.
But contrary to his invocation that it was “private”, the PPCO website has posted three non-media related videos of the event on its You Tube channel.
“Why did you harass my rep to be at the lunch to cover for us? What is your purpose,” Ms. Cusipag asked in an email coursed through the club’s e-group and furnished individual members.
Garcia has not responded since the complaint was posted on April 15. Neither did any PPCO official.
Ms. Cusipag said she learned three days later that her paper’s email address was removed from the PPCO list without explanation, apparently in retaliation for the stories in Balita and news videos published on The Filipino Web Channel.
(Related stories: 1. Philippine Press Club Should Expel Its President: http://www.balita.ca/2013/04/for-flagrant-violations-of-constitution-philippine-press-club-should-expel-its-president/ and 2. Is He President of Press Club or Drumbeater for a Friend?: http://www.balita.ca/2013/04/is-he-president-of-press-club-or-drumbeater-for-a-friend/).
“I am complaining because this is not right, and Hermie (Garcia) should know,” she wrote the PPCO Board. “This is not a communist country and I am a paid member and there is no reason why our members should not know what you are up to.”
Ms. Cusipag also warned Garcia: “Do not attempt to ask grants or anything monetary using the PPCO because I, as a member, will not tolerate it.”
She further cautioned him: “Don’t make an attempt to discredit all the people that you do not like so you will have full control of the group and I found out you are famous for that.”
Garcia, who publishes and edits the left-leaning Philippine Reporter tabloid, was not immediately available for comment.
His paper, probably because of its leftist orientation, does not enjoy wide public support and is just one of the 15 newspapers in Toronto that compete for advertising dollars.
The Cusipags’ fortnightly Balita leads the pack in content, advertising and readership to make it the largest in the Greater Toronto Area.
Garcia had time and again sought and won election as board member. The resignation of his two predecessors gave him the opportunity to upgrade his post. Some PPCO members expressed the fear the organization would be turned into a leftist ideologue once Garcia got the top position.
Mogi Mogado, a PPCO member who run against Garcia in the recent PPCO election, expressed his concerns in a brief campaign speech. “I think he (Garcia) wants to transform PPCO towards social justice,” he said.
“I have no quarrel with the CASJ (Community Alliance for Social Justice) but are you prepared to be an adjunct of CASJ?” he asked. “Hermie (Garcia) does not care about PPCO so long as makakuha siya ng pogi points,” Mogado added.
CASJ claims to be “an organization of Filipino community groups dedicated to advancing social justice through advocacy, education and community action”. A 2009 posting in its website indicated that Garcia was its president.
There is no update about who its current officials are. But Ms. Cusipag said the association is almost nearly defunct. She told Garcia: “You should remember that your CASJ do not have anymore members because of your attitude”.
The loss of CASJ members seems to have impelled Garcia to covet the PPCO presidency to leverage for monetary grants, according to PPCO members who asked not to be named. #