YEAR 10, No.

11 May 2007 Home Paper of the 1999 Canadian Ethnic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club Winner for Best Editorial Toronto, Ontario

Police adopt Reodica inquest jury recommendations (See page 5)

RP VOTES
INSIDE
Ooops & Bloops
PACE, PIDC
festivals?
Gastos na
naman! - 7
Philippine Consul General in Toronto Alejandro Mosquera
reads an official ballot as Orlando Manalo and Ethel Ang
mark the tally board and tally sheet, respectively, during BY THE MANILA MEDIA MONITOR
counting of overseas absentee votes in Toronto. The three REPORTORIAL TEAM
consular officials compose the Special Board of Election
Inspectors deputized for the May 14 polls. MMM Photo It was an honest, orderly and peaceful election
... in Toronto, Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada
and in other countries where the Philippines main- RP’s truer face - 13
tained diplomatic posts.
Thus would attest Philippine Ambassador to Ot-
tawa Jose Brillantes and Philippine Consul Gen-
eral in Toronto Alejandro Mosquera.
But back in the archipelago, the May 14 syn-
chronized local and national polling stood out as
another copycat of past political exercises.
Philippine national dailies on May 15 had head- Muting Boni’s cry - 24
lines screaming with claims of vote-buying and
poll rigging; reports of chaos and confusion; and
worse, a long list of violent acts and death.
Papa
Dawn count in Toronto
Piolo,
For over eight hours on May 14, the Special Board of
Papa-
Election Inspectors (SBEI) applied due diligence and end-
less patience to make sure the valid ballots of 410 Filipi- laos?
no overseas absentee voters in Toronto and environs were -- 34
counted and would matter to Philippine political stability.
(Continued on page 30)

FILIPINO VOTES IN TORONTO

(Courtesy of OAV-SBRCG-Toronto)
Senatorial Candidate
PANGILINAN, Francis 313
LEGARDA, Loren 295
RECTO, Ralph 286
VILLAR, Manuel Jr. 254
AQUINO, Benigno Simeon III 240
ANGARA, Edgardo 225
ARROYO, Joker 223
PIMENTEL, Aquilino 219
MAGSAYSAY, Vicente 193
ROCO, Sonia 185
ESCUDERO, Francis Joseph 183
CAYETANO, Alan Peter 170
LACSON, Panfilo 160
DEFENSOR, Michael 155 Philippine Ambassador Jose Brillantes (left) and deputized poll officers Romy Merjudio,
ZUBIRI, Juan Miguel 141 Consul Rhen Rodriguez, Consul General Joey Angeles, Bing Clemente, Consul Louie Bel-
(Continued on page 31) lo and Al Rosales prepare for the May 14 overseas absentee voting in Ottawa.
 ADVERTISERS’ INDEX C
Manila Media Monitor
2 MAY 2007
MORE EXPOSURE, LESSER COSTS
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Each Office is Independently Owned And Operated

Dentistry (6)
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Action Honda (7)
Ellesmere-Kennedy Dental
Centre (10)
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 News Manila Media Monitor
4 MAY 2007

PACE breaks
water with
Making Waves
Festival
ALL SET TO MAKE WAVES. Philippine Arts and Cultural Experience (PACE) president Teresa
Torralba and Harbourfront Centre (HFC) community and education program director Melanie
Fernandez (3rd and 4th from right, respectively) discuss with members of the community
media the attractions that expect to raise Making Waves Festival (MWF) a spectacular arts,
culture and trading event at the HFC from Aug. 17 to 19. Complementing information are also
given by (from left) PACE CFO Gerry Jutsun, HFC artistic associate Sandra Whiting, PACE
Secretary-Treasurer and Hermana Mayor Belle Tumbokon and PACE EVP and MWF enter-
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE PHOTO tainment director Mon Torralba in a press conference at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin
Plaza Hotel on April 22.

on the weekend next, said it tive year, Mabuhay! had

Harbourfront Centre certain on festival dates
PIDC turns down cooperation bid
MWF assures tsunami of arts, trades, entertainment
Various reactions it had
drawn - this premier staging
of Making Waves Festival
(MWF) on Aug. 17, 18 and
19 at the Harbourfront Cen-
tre, a modern Ontario lake-
side social, cultural and en-
tertainment hub in Toronto.
But would this festival,
or any other, really provide
the community and their
non-Filipino neighbors a
better appreciation of Phil-
ippine arts and culture pre-
sented at its so-called best?
Whatever its toll in pro-
moting mutual community
cooperation, if not the seem-
ingly unreachable rhetoric
of community unity, only
time would tell.
Thus, the Manila Media
Monitor has sought to unrav-
el the whys and wherefores
on how this festival made a
ripple - actual or perceived
Philippine Consul General in Toronto Alejandro Mosquera (3rd from right) joins the officers, staff and
production crew of Filipinos Making Waves Festival (MWF) during a recent presentation at Cusina.
MWF, a project of Philippine Arts and Cultural Experience, is set to debut at the Harbourfront Centre on
August 17, 18 and 19. Photo: MIGUEL CADUCIO
BY ACE ALVAREZ &
BUTCH GALICIA
- in the sea of eyes and ears
of fiesta-loving Filipinos
whose only prime and prag-
matic concern is to go out
and enjoy another Canadian
weekend.
Making Waves
In a press conference at
the Westin Prince Hotel on
April 22, Philippine Arts
and Cultural Experience
(PACE) president Teresa
Torralba said MWF would
definitely push through.
“We are prepared to
make MWF a colossal
community cultural break-
through,” Torralba stressed.
Also MWF executive di-
rector, Torralba said PACE
launched MWF to comple-
ment a major back-to-back
long-running community
summer festivity in North
America.
A week earlier, on Aug.
11 and 12, the community
would converge for the 14-
year old annual Pistahan
Parade and Festival at the
Yerba Buena Gardens in San
Francisco, California.
Pistahan - a tribute to
Filipinos who made it big in
America in the field of arts,
culture, sports and entertain-
ment - is mounted by the
Filipino-American Arts Ex-
position under Al Perez.
From Frisco, the festive
atmosphere will swing, for
the first time, to the 10-acre
Harbourfront Centre.
Controversial dates?
But plans to fast-forward
Pistahan’s Toronto counter-
part - the MWF - was not
without controversy.
Toronto-based Philip-
pine Independence Day
Council (PIDC) cried foul
and tried to have MWF
strapped, if not scrapped,
PACE officials noted.
The issue: MWF’s menu
was seen as diarrheic to
PIDC’s Mabuhay! Philip-
pines Toronto summer fes-
tival at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre (MTCC)
on Aug. 18.
Harbourfront Centre
(HFC) community and en-
tertainment director Mela-
nie Fernandez, in the press
conference, said Aug. 17 to
19, 2007 were dates open
for event reservations when
PACE requested for such in
October 2006.
PACE, which saw it ide-
al to move Pistahan’s enter-
tainment and trading show-
case from Frisco to Toronto
then had no idea of PIDC’s been staged near June 12,
activities.
Also, PIDC then had
when Philippine Indepen-
dence Day is celebrated.
yet to announce the conduct
of Mabuhay!, although it
Manila Media Monitor
files showed PIDC publicly
claimed to have closed deals announced its 2007 calendar
with the MTCC as early as of events during its Jan. 27
last year. annual general meeting at
On its seventh consecu- (Continued on page 36)
Smitherman names
Dr. Santiago to
Toronto Central
CCAC board
Health and Long-Term Care
Minister George Smitherman
announced on May 7 the ap-
pointment of Dr. Victoria Santi-
ago as a member of the Toronto
Central Community Care Ac-
cess Centre (CCAC) board of
directors.
“Victoria Santiago has been
very involved in community ac-
tivities,” Smitherman said.
“The passion she has for DR. SANTIAGO
community building is a perfect fit with the Toronto Cen-
tral CCAC’s mandate to provide community-based health
care,” he said.
CCACs coordinate access to nursing, therapy, personal
support and homemaking and other services to people at
home.
They also HEY ALSO ; provide placement in long-term
care homes; and give out vital information to caregivers
about the services and supports available to their friends
and family.
Dr. Santiago, who operates three dental clinics in the
Greater Toronto Area, has been a major donor and support-
er of various projects in the Filipino-Canadian community.
Currently, she is the vice-president of the Silayan Com-
munity Centre and interim chair and board member of the
Filipino Centre Toronto.
“I’m pleased to be appointed to the Toronto Central
CCAC board of directors,” Dr. Santiago said.
“I believe the Toronto Central CCAC is an important
part of the local community, and I look forward to doing
my part to ensure that local residents are getting quality
health care services,” she added.
Dr. Santiago, who trained as a dentist in the Philippines,
has also received a degree in comprehensive restorative
dentistry at the University of Western Ontario. CNW
 News
Manila Media Monitor Outfitting
Chief Blair said the Use
MAY 2007 5 of Force Review Commit-
tee recommended the issu-
ance of “Police” arm bands
police to detain witnesses
for interviews; and witness-
es to crimes were always
free to leave at any time,
and free to choose whether

Police adopt recommendations and raid jacket to Toronto’s

1,300 plainclothes officers.
The outfitting would
or not to give a statement to
any investigating body.
Parents or guardians of

jury made in Reodica slay inquest

cost the service $89,000. youth witnesses under 18
The comittee also said should be informed fast. The
unmarked police vehicles Officer in Charge should
should be equipped with a ensure this, Blair said.
In the next three years Garcia. plug-in red “Police” stop Community reachout
beginning 2008, the To-
BY BUTCH GALICIA “Mukhang nagkakaroon light and additional emer- Blair likewise called on
ronto Police would make na ng clout ang mga Pinoy gency equipment, “wig- the police Community Li-
sure its plainclothes officers sa Toronto (It seems that wag” front headlights and aison Officers to continue
and its usually unmarked the community is building siren package, all worth improving the interaction
vehicles would be readily its clout in Toronto),” Gar- some $350,000. between the police and the
known when responding to cia added. Use of force options city’s diverse communities.
calls, particularly in emer- “That’s good news. It Blair added that proce- “A key element of com-
gencies. won’t bring Jeffrey back, dures on Uniform, Equip- munity mobilization is the
Police Chief William but it will prevent another ment and Appearance Stan- effective and efficient level
Sterling Blair has vowed similar incident,” Flora dards were being revised to of consultation that is un-
to request for $438,350 to Reodica, Jeffrey’s mother, guide policemen on which dertaken between the police
fund the three-year phased was quoted as saying by the use of force options they and all community stake-
equipment outfitting in the Toronto Star. could or should wear or have holders,” Blair said.
force’s 2008 and future op- “If these recommenda- access to when on duty. Liaison officer Mendoza
erating budgets. tions were in place three He stressed that use of said the partnership had
This move was high- BILL BLAIR PHILIP MENDOZA years ago, Jeffrey would force options in any opera- been the focus of his work
lighted in a six-page police the progress of the Reodica (Justice for Jeffrey) J4J, probably still be alive,” tion should always take into for the Philippine, Korean,
appreciation of the jury case noted the significance (Philippine Press Club- Flora said. account the impact on pub- Indonesian, Japanese and
recommendations from the of the jury recommenda- Ontario) PPCO and all or- She told the Star she lic or officer safety, or the Vietnamese communities.
coroner’s inquest into the tions and Blair’s response. ganizations, groups and believed “that if Jeffrey had integrity of the investiga- “Coordination is being
May 2004 shooting and “This a big victory for individuals who supported known they were police, he tion or event. done on all levels towards
death of 17-year old Jeffrey the Filipino community, the justice for Jeffrey cam- would have listened to them Parent notification making the communities
Reodica in Scarborough. (the Community Alliance paign,” said CASJ president and things would’ve been Blair stressed the police safe and secure,” Mendoza
The appreciation is con- for Social Justice) CASJ, and PPCO director Hermie different.” did not have authority for said.
tained as Agenda
Item 21 on pages
89 to 94 of a 174-
page agenda in-
formation Blair
Dr. Arla Rondilla Dentistry Professional Corporation
submitted on April
26 for the perusal,
General Dentistry & Orthodontics
review and sub-
sequent action of
the Toronto Po-
lice Service Board
(TPSB).
Toronto police
community liaison
officer Constable
Philip Mendoza
told the Manila
Media Monitor
the TPSB, “most
of the time, ap-
proves the sub-
missions” of the
police chief.
Mendoza ear-
lier sent the com-
munity media
an advisory on
Blair’s submis-
sion that also in-
cluded the Chief’s
responses to:
► The use
of force options
carried by plain-
clothes officers,
► The notifi-
cation of parents
or guardians when
youth are detained
by police, and
► The work
of Community Li-
aison Officers in
building trust be-
tween the public
and the police.
Mendoza cited
the community for
helping the police First Row (left to right) Tracy, Anna, Dr. Arla Rondilla, Dr. Firind Cox, Jing, Tricia
be more efficient Second Row (left to right) Shacel, Janet, Abbey, Glenda, Twinkle, Doris, Leman
and effective in
the performance
of its services.
FOR APPOINTMENTS & OTHER INQUIRIES, PLEASE CALL
Reactions (416) 283-1512
Community
leaders following 1265 Morningside Ave., Suite 104, Scarborough, Ontario
Manila Media Monitor
6 MAY 2007
May 27-June 3: Kalayaan CCC Open House
Welcome, come in!
By Mama Ching Quejas
It’s all set. Kalayaan
Cultural Community Cen-
tre will open its doors to the
public for eight days from
May 27 to June 3.
Officers and members
of KCCC have been work-
ing overtime lately, finaliz-
ing plans for the open house
that aims to promote aware-
ness of its existence in the
community.
Largely responsible for
News
the planning and prepara-
tions for the big event are
volunteers Marjorie Mella,
Rowena Sancho, Chiqui-
Kat Pineda-Azimi, Joy
Almojuela, Jojo Sebas-
tian, Jegma Dimaculangan,
Evelyn Laraya, Peachy
Forbes (who works quietly
in the background), direc-
tors Mayette Balbastro and
Charity Lim, who is also in
charge of the souvenir pro-
gram, and this writer who is
an ex-officio member of all
committees.
Line dancing co-chair
Merilyn Macasero is qui-
etly doing her work too and
will surely surprise every-
one with results.
Flyers, invitations and
schedule of activities for
the open house have been
released.
The weeklong art ex-
hibit of the Philippine Art-
ists Group (PAG) has been
confirmed.
Besides the PAG exhibit
on the first day - May 27, a
CMC honors Mama Ching
Civic leader and com-
munity matriarch Consola-
cion Quejas, also known as
fund raising Monte Carlo Mama Ching, has joined the
will be conducted from 2 to long but prestigious list of
9 p.m. Games to be played Asian Canadians who have
are mahjong, poker, bingo made their mark in Toron-
and pusoy. to’s multicultural mosaic.
The next day, May 28, is On May 4, the Canadian
for a two-hour line dancing Multicultural Council of
session from 7:30 to 9:30 Asians in Ontario (CMC)
p.m. Tuesday night is movie presented Mama Ching
night with a double header, CHING QUEJAS with a Most Outstanding
one in English and another Award during the CMC Gala Night, in celebration of Asian
in Tagalog. Heritage Month, at the Chinese Cultural Centre.
Wednesday - May 30 - is Themed “Honoring the Pioneers,” the award cited out-
martial arts demonstration standing Asian Canadians for their contributions to enhanc-
night from 7 to 8:30 p.m., ing multiculturalism and diversity in Toronto.
to encourage young and old Mama Ching said “the award is an honor not only for
alike to learn the art of self- myself but for my fellow Filipinos as well. It is an inspi-
defense. Those interested to ration for me to go on doing the thing I most love to do
join may register then and – serve my community.”
there. She has served the community for over 30 years, doing
Thursday is rondalla volunteer work in various capacities.
practice night and observers A law graduate of the University of the Philippines,
are welcome to watch the Mama Ching is the president of the Kalayaan Cultural
band play. Instructions are Community Centre. Rose S. Tijam
free and students can use
KCCC-owned instruments.
On Friday, June 1, the
ballroom dancing class will
do an exhibition from 7 to 9
p.m. The public is invited to
watch and learn steps.
Saturday, June 2, is
Community Connections
Day and many activities are
lined up from morning until
evening.
Booths will be rented
out to businesses, organi-
zations or those wanting to
promote trades or services.
There will be food sale,
(Continued on page 36) Mama Ching with KCCC members

PACE, PIDC fests in a day?
Gastos na naman!
Award winning product brand-
ing guru, Jeff Rustia, spoke be-
fore members of the Philippine
Chamber of Commerce-Toronto
(PCCT) at the Delta Toronto East
Hotel on Kennedy Road, Wednes-
day, May 9.
Before the event, I got an e-mail
invitation from PCCT’s Rose Ami
informing members of the event.
The invitation stated that Jeff re-
cently spoke in … (am not sure if
it was in Riyadh, or Dubai) where
people paid US$300 to hear him
speak, adding, don’t miss this op-
portunity to hear Jeff for only $10.
Oh boy! Are you okay, Jeff? I
hope nothing is wrong.
***
An advance notice for the
Global Investigative Journalism
Conference in Toronto stated
that Filipino award-winning
journalist Sheila Coronel will be
among the speakers.
Balita Publisher Tess Cu-
sipag contacted Sheila and in-
quired what time she will be
speaking at the conference.
Tess shared with Philippine
Press Club-Ontario President
Tenny Soriano, Manila Media
Monitor Editor Butch Galicia
and myself Sheila’s reply with a
note, saying, “This is the reply
of Sheila. She will be speaking
Ace Alvarez
for two days.”
We now send this message to
Sheila: Tenny, Butch and I wish
you the very best. May you win
the 2007 Speaking Marathon. Two
days, we believe, is record break-
ing. Whew! 48 hours, non-stop?
***
Re Manila Media Monitor’s
lead story last month, “Diverted
Leyte Mudslide Funds?”, Leyte
Association of Ontario President
and PIDC Adviser Pempe Saave-
dra wrote to me on April 19, say-
ing, “Despite my positive outlook
in life, I felt aggrieved and my
reputation tarnished. If not for you
and Gie, I would have explored
other options.”
Ano? Pempe, please look at
the guys in photo below. Iyan
ba ang mga mukha ng ta-tarnish
ng reputation of anybody? Mga
mukhang anghel, ‘di ba?
Anyway, I say, “Sir Pempe,
practice la’ng ‘yan for your future
in the political arena. Don’t tell
me that every time you figure in
a news item, you will be shout-
ing the news item tarnished your
reputation.”
***
Meanwhile, a day earlier
before Pempe sent me the mes-
sage, a news item came out at
various media outlets where
“Progressive Conservative MPP
and Deputy Leader Elizabeth
Witmer (Kitchener-Waterloo)
pressed the McGuinty Liberals
for answers about a shadowy
slush fund operated by the Min-
ister of Citizenship and Immi-
gration.”
The following day, April 20,
the Progressive Conservatives
came out with a news item at
various media outlets.
Headline
read: “TORY
CALLS FOR
AUDITOR,
C O M M I T-
TEE TO
INVESTI-
GATE SUS-
PICIOUS
MCGUINTY
S L U S H
FUND”, with
Views
sub-head, “McGuinty should
release all documents about
year-end funds at Ministry of
Citizenship.”
THERE’S NO TRUTH that
McGuinty and his government
wrote John Tory and his PCs
saying that they felt aggrieved
and their reputation tarnished
with the news item.
***
THERE’S NO TRUTH THAT
Manila Media Monitor is in the
process of coming out with a
headline that will read: “ALVA-
REZ, GALICIA CALL ON THE
CONSUL GENERAL TO RE-
PORT ON THE LEYTE MUD-
SLIDE FUNDRAISING HIS OF-
FICE ENDORSED”.
***
At the press conference of
the “Making Waves Festival
(MWF)” (slated in Toronto
August 17, 18 & 19) at Westin
Prince Hotel in North York,
Ontario, April 22, Toronto Po-
lice Community Liaison Officer
Philip Mendoza was present.
THERE’S NO TRUTH
THAT the other camp - the
“PIDC Mabuhay Philippines
Toronto Summer Festival”
(slated this year in Toronto for
August 17, 18 & 19) was saying,
“E, ano? Lagi namang present
sa amin si Pempe Saavedra, a.”
I say, the MWF has a Police
Officer. The “PIDC Mabuhay
… Fest”, on the other hand, has
a Police Adviser. Pempe serves
in the Toronto Police Service
Board of Advisers.
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007 7
***
A “Thank You” note sent
Monday, April 23, by MWF’s Te-
resa Torralba to the media who
attended the group’s press confer-
ence in part read “that MWF is all
about - Making News, Making
FRIENDS, and Making Business
for our kababayans - both locally
and internationally. Maybe, next
time, with your help, we will make
this ‘Filipinos Making TSUNAMI
Festival’!”
I say, “Okay bayan, ihanda
ang inyong mga wallets, we have
another fundraising to do!”
Projected Manila Media Mon-
itor headline a year later will defi-
nitely read: “Diverted Tsunami
Funds?”
***
Butch recently sent an e-mail
message to Philippine Airlines’
VP for Public Relations Rollie
Estabillo, then informed me on
the matter with a note stating,
“Sana naman, ma-appreciate
ni Rollie ang good old days na-
min together. Anyway, that was
only three years ago, so I guess
he would remember the times
we ate, drank and did not sleep
together.”
I responded, “Mabuti na
la’ng, you did not ‘sleep to-
gether’, otherwise, scandalous
‘yon, sir. But only in the Philip-
pines. Sa ibang parts ng North
Amerika, meron nang ‘same sex
marriage’.”
***
After the PPC-O’s last Break-
(Continued on page 16)
8 Views
Marketers need to
understand social media
Here’s one item that market-
ers must always bear in mind in
the execution of their promotional
and advertising campaigns: Mar-
keters should live in a “know con-
trol” world.
This was the message of Mitch
Joel, President of Twist Image in
Montreal, during the Canadian
Marketers Convention in Ottawa
on Monday, May 14.
Joel said “We need to under-
stand control.” He stressed mar-
keters should “control their mes-
sage, … control their products and
control the channels that they send
it through.”
The Montreal-based executive
said, in turn, that the consumer
controls whether or not they like
this message or whether or not
they are going to spread it to other
people and help marketers build
their business.
I mention this, because, most
often than not, product and/or
service marketers often expect
too much from their placements
in any media. They do not under-
The much anticipated rains
have started to bless the Philip-
pines, just in time to lower the
mercury by a precious degree or
two.
The rains, like Philippine elec-
tions, are integral to our cycle of
life.
The afternoon showers are
welcome because they bring with
them the promise of more verdant
vegetation.
Peeking from an aircraft, one
sees a pale mocha color shrouding
the country, as though the coun-
tryside hills constitute a sorry ver-
sion of Shangrila.
The refreshing rains should fi-
nally do the trick.
Greener, more robust grass
will soon replace the sullen land-
scape.
The summer soak ups also au-
gur well for the awful physical state
that the midterm elections have
rendered the entire country in.
The picture isn’t pretty and
foreign observers of the polls
couldn’t hold their tongues in
remarking at how a presumably
serious affair has morphed into
a carnival of ridiculous propor-
tions.
We cannot begin to calculate
how many trees had to be felled
to produce the tons of paper that
stand that investment returns from
their promotional and advertis-
ing placements require more than
one placement. Often, marketers
would say, I have placed an ad on
this and that, and I never got any
sale from the same.
Joel pointed out that market-
ers have to build trust with their
consumers and it takes time; that
it could not be done in one cam-
paign.
He added that the most impor-
tant part of understanding social
media is “trust economies”, mean-
ing marketers have to build trust
with their consumers.
***
Sometime last year, Manila
Media Monitor came out with a
front page item about the need of
Caloocan City-based three-year
old Crincess Czhanala Macawile
for funds to fly their daughter to
Hong Kong for a much needed
surgery. Crincess was born with
what is called medically as “neo-
natal hepatitis”, where her liver
was swollen, hence, could not
Elections and the
Philippine rain
have been plastered, hung and
tacked in every conceivable area
that human eyes can see.
If one wishes to see how tooth-
less national laws are and how in-
efficient the election commission
is at enforcing election laws, one
only has to look out the window.
In every square kilometer, one
can instantly spot an infraction.
No one honors common poster
areas; no candidate obeys that no-
buntings law; trees and electric
poles are punctured mercilessly to
accommodate streamers and bills
In fact, there is so much print-
ed advertisement of all sizes, legal
or not, that when summed up, the
cost would probably be enough to
send half the country’s children
through grade school.
It is papier mache season be-
cause layers of posters are pasted
on walls till they are so thick and
hard that it would take hours to
peel them off.
God sends the rains precisely
to aid the poor fellows whose task
is to restore the walls to their for-
mer glory.
The rains also drench the ads
to make disintegration faster.
Alas, as soon as the rains let
up, the next generation of posters
make their way to the streets to re-
place the battered ones.
function properly. The story also
appeared in other publications,
among others, Balita and Taliba.
The story was likewise fea-
tured on television, through Front
Page Philippines airing 11:30
a.m. Sundays, and 12 noon Thurs-
days on OMNI 2, CJMT Toronto
(Cable 14 in Toronto).
In spite of the plea for help
though, Crincess Czhanala’s par-
ents, Christopher Tan and Ann Ma-
cawile, were not able to raise the
necessary amount of US$120,000
for the operation.
All the stories appearing in
the media outlets above cited the
three-year old’s attending physi-
cians, namely Drs. Germana Gre-
gorio and Vanessa De Villa of the
Philippine General Hospital, say-
ing that if the operation could not
be performed , there was a possi-
bility that the child would die.
On May 3, the child’s uncle,
George Macawile, based in To-
ronto, sent an e-mail to us at this
publication, among other media
outlets, that the child passed away.
Sadly too, no candidate in re-
cent or remote memory has ever
been known to voluntarily remove
his garbage and graffiti.
The Pinoy politico is much
too chauvinist to even muster the
scruples and politeness to clean up
his mess.
He cares not that the very pa-
per he used to catapult him to an
elective seat will be the same pa-
per that will clog the drains and
bring the flashfloods in the mon-
soon months.
He will be too busy weaving
magic to recover the astronomical
costs of his election.
Even when the sun shies away
during the rainy season, he will be
making political hay.
His personal coffers are empty
and must be refilled so that when
the next elections come, he can
be more visible and his name and
face will adorn every nook of his
district.
And as the poor Pinoy is con-
fronted with broken electoral
promises, the politico, like the
summer rain, soon sheds its re-
freshing image and rears an ugly
head.
The once coveted rainfall of
May and June inevitably becomes
the bane and nuisance of later
months.
She was four years old.
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007
Recently, I saw graphics artist
James Bade, son of my old friend,
Manny Bade, who informed me
that his dad had a heart attack
sometime ago, and that it was
massive.
A fighter that he was, Manny
on the phone later told me that
he was so lucky that he lives in
Canada, hence, appropriate medi-
cal attention saved his life; and
that, this being his second life, he
wanted to do more for the greater
good of people around him.
But while Manny was not only
lucky, but very lucky, Crincess
Czhanala was not as she lived in a
society with health support mech-
anism.
From the web, I came across
a site where it was mentioned that
first gentleman, Mike Arroyo, do-
nated P100,000 for Czhanala’s op-
eration. Had the government lead-
ers only tapped resources - which
I am sure they could do - from the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes
Office, three-year old Crincess
Czhanala’s life could have been
spared.
***
Annually, the months of June,
July and August are heavily laden
with festivals, among these, the
Filipinos’ PIDC Mabuhay Philip-
pines” and Making Waves Festival
(MWF)”. Like the MWF, another
festival that begins to sprout this
summer is “Luminato”, dubbed
as Toronto’s Festival of Arts and
Creativity.
Even at its maiden event,
“Luminato” is already assured of
staging for the next four years.
Conceived last year, “Luminato”
has so far raised $10 million.
Hhhmmm … what a difference a
big name board of directors make,
and working (as opposed to deco-
rative) committee members!
***
Going the rounds of Toronto
on my way to and from various
places where I have to be per-
sonally present, I would drop by
some Filipino-run eateries and
grab a quick bite. One thing no-
ticeable about the servings I get
from many of these places is that
the serving from a “combo” order
is some sort of an observance of
the Lenten season’s fasting for
me. Comparatively to date with
the places I’ve been to, Golden
Valley’s Food Outlets Inc. still
has the generous servings of its
combo deals.
No wonder, many Filipinos
still prefer eat-ins and take-outs
from Chinese eateries.
***
A news item forwarded to us
from Manila states “Foreign ob-
servers say polls in South marred
by violations, worse than Afghan-
istan.”
This is one story (if at all a
news story) that could be written
even before the election day itself
in the Philippines?
***
One widow in her late 60s,
who is close to me, said, “My re-
lationship with my husband had
not been really good.”
This declaration now after she
and her husband brought to this
(Continued on page 27)
 Views
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007
9

The Vimy Spin

Letters & Voices You may hate me for what I’m
going to say, but say it I must.
And we have that war to thank ini, Kurosawa and Bresson. And
for the vengeful misery inflicted home grown theatre was offering
Last month, we were treated to upon a defeated Germany that led us Canadian actors in local pro-
Reactions to ‘Diverted ...’ a massive outpouring of emotion to the rise of Hitler and the great- ductions of even, at times, works
I was in a meeting last night at Casa Manila and my attention as we commemorated the 90th an- est threat to democracy that ever by Canadian playwrights.
was called to your newspaper which has the above-captioned head- niversary of the Canadian victory existed. And my first 20 years in Can-
ing with a picture of Ricky and me in the inside continuation of the at Vimy Ridge. To me, putting the Great War ada were crowned with a visit to
article. While there was nothing wrong upon reading the whole ar- The commemoration and the spin on Canada and Canadian Expo ’67 one of the great defining
ticle (actually, I thought it was insightful, fair, truthful and well-bal- restoration of the Vimy monument identity smacks of a growing em- moments in the shaping of mod-
anced), I was sort of disappointed with the heading. Because, there were just: the Canadian men who phasis to militarize the minds of ern Canada.
are some people who actually only glance at the paper and flipped fought and succeeded where oth- our young people, once again glo- The rest is history.
over the pages. I don’t know if you will agree with me, but some- ers failed were true heroes. rifying a war that was nothing but This year we salute a veritable
body who looks at the heading and saw the pictures inside may have However, I strenuously object a Great Mistake. explosion of opportunities for lov-
a different perception of the story. Putting up our pictures actually to the mythology that many, from We grieve for the youngsters ers of music, theatre, film, dance,
make it worse. And I hope it does not happen to us again. Pempe politicians to military historians to whose coffins so frequently fly in the visual arts and spectacle to en-
Saavedra, josesaavedrajr@yahoo.com media, are trying to create out of from Afghanistan. joy a city that makes me, at least,
(Thank you for the observation. But rest assured that readers the Vimy battle. Let’s make sure we grieve for proud I don’t have to go to New
of Manila Media Monitor read through the paper’s pages and are It was a defining moment in them for the right reasons and not York to enjoy events of the kind
intelligent enough to discern good journalism from social trash Canadian military history but in for some jingoistic idea that being we salute here.
and imagery. Editors) no way can it be seen as the defin- warriors suits them better than be- Please don’t bug me with that
***** ing moment in the making of our ing peacekeepers. tired old cliché “now we’re a
I would like to congratulate you on your April 2007 banner sto- nation. *** world class city.”
ry. “Diverted Leyte Mudslide Funds?” is a classic example of how Vanity, pride Sixty years ago, I described When it comes to what I’m
your publication offers a valuable simplistic update on an ongoing Back in 1917, Canada was this city as a “cultural wasteland”. going to tell you, we’re a “Toronto
issue that readers are quiet about; when news reporting can stimulate still a British colony; there was no But I stayed. And how glad I am! class city.”
readers’ brains, affecting everybody in the community to arrive and such thing as a Canadian citizen Within ten years, we had the ***
make corrective decisions on what is, was and will be. Now, every- until 30 years later when the Citi- Stratford Festival, less than two This year’s Reel World Film
body has to re-think the status quo. Romano Gaudencio, Toronto, zenship Act was introduced. hours drive away and the begin- Festival established by interna-
Ontario Canadians, like all the com- nings of an opera company, both tionally-known Canadian actress
(Thank you for the plaudits. You have made our work harder, batants, fought and died in a war of which would resonate interna- Tonya Lee Williams saw a growth
as we can no longer sleep on the job. And if there is something that should never have begun and tionally. to a total to 87 productions, plus
you and the community should know and understand, we vow to would not have, had it not been for Foreign films were gradually panels and workshops.
responsibly get it to you. Editors) the vanity and pride of monarchs, breaking through the subtitle stig- Fate conspired to prevent me
***** politicians and generals. ma and we were welcoming Fell- (Continued on page 18)
Congratulations sa “Diverted...” story. Bilib naman ako sa ta-
pang ng story. Wala pa bang reaction sina (Jose “Pempe”) Saavedra
at (Ricky) Cuenca? Nabasa mo ba yung open letter ni Pempe kay
Tenny (Soriano)? Baka kayo naman ni Ace ang makatanggap next
ng ganoong klaseng letter. Hermie Garcia, Editor, Philippine Re-
porter

Learning from
(Thank you for the kudos. We surely welcome reactions to the
story. On another note, we believed that letter was privileged com-
munication between the writer and Mr. Soriano. While we are
tempted to publish that letter you implied was furnished your good
self and has become an “open letter,” we are temporarily holding bad decisions
on to it to eliminate any misimpression and misinterpretation. But
rest assured media will live up to its responsibilities to the commu- Jenna sent me her story last But he couldn’t get enough. Everyone around her breathed
nity, no matter what. The Editors) month but I couldn’t bring myself Tovi would show up at her a sigh of relief. But Santos was

Seniors’ benefits to talk about it then.

Her story struck a chord in me
Nakatulong po ng malaki ang Manila Media Monitor’s series on and I needed some time to come
Seniors’ Benefits sa aking mga magulang. Lagi po nilang sinusubay- to terms with it.
bayan ang mga pagbabago sa programa. Grace Chiu, Mississauga It could have been my story
and I thought it could have been
MMM website kudos a path many of us might have
taken.
Just a short note to let you know that I recently had a chance to
look at your website and it looks compelling! Kudos to you and the Jenna’s story was about bad
team that supports your mandate! Jo Ann Baguioro, Advertising luck and bad decisions.
Consultant, Interactive Media, jbaguioro@durhamregion.com Jenna had been in Canada for
nearly four years. She arrived here
Congratulations on a work permit and got a job as
a live-in nanny in downtown To-
Great issues. Bow na bow kami. Loads of best wishes to Manila ronto.
Media Monitor. - Ma. Teresa Torralba, Toronto Her future seemed clear, she
needed to complete her two years
I am impressed not only with Manila Media Monitor’s layout and would then get her papers and
but how it gives importance to people, to include me. Kaya nga kayo then eventually her citizenship.
ang una sa akin! - Larry Torres, Toronto At 20, Jenna was on her way
to a better life.
May kabuluhan, hindi la’ng puro sayawan. Ms. From Aklan, We all needed friends. And we
Bathurst St., North York, Ontario. all needed someone to love and
love us back.
Maganda ang Manila Media Monitor. Hindi puro retrato ng mga Jenna was no different. Dur-
sayawan. - Nida Tillner, Toronto, Ontario ing her time off, she went out, she
dated and enjoyed her life.
We all did it. But some of us
LETTERS, COMMENTS, REACTIONS were lucky. We met the right per-
may be sent to mediamonitor@rogers. son.
Jenna was unlucky. She met
com. All communications will be edited. Tovi. Tovi was all about love. She
was his light, her every dream.
employer’s home during the day.
At first Jenna made him leave. But
she was in love. She made a deci-
sion. Tovi got to stay.
At first an hour, then two,
then the whole day. Her employer
found out and fired her. What did
she expect?
At 21, she was desperate. She
needed another job validation.
The best she could do was to be a
part-time live-out nanny.
Better than nothing. It paid for
part of her expenses but the rest
was paid through a growing de-
pendency on friends and family.
Then Jenna met Santos. Where
Tovi had a job, Santos did not.
Where Tovi was single and avail-
able. Santos was not. And Jenna
made another decision.
A year passed and Jenna still
had no full-time job. The few
friends left her and her family
became resentful of her growing
dependency on them. Jenna had
moved in to her aunt’s house.
At 22, she no longer could see
clearly the path her future should
take. She was desperate.
Then finally, one day, her luck
turned and she landed a full-time
job.
still in the picture. He promised
to marry her. He promised to get
work. He promised to leave his
wife.
At 23, Jenna became pregnant.
How? Simple. Jenna made a deci-
sion. Santos didn’t want to wear
protection and Jenna couldn’t af-
ford to buy it. It was inevitable.
In six months, her employer
let her go. But it got worse. She
moved from job to job, managed
to complete her two years and was
eligible to apply for her perma-
nent status.
But she didn’t. She was too
busy. Time slipped and her win-
dow passed.
At 23, Jenna was about to give
birth. She lost her OHIP and her
chance to stay in Canada. The past
three-and-a-half years had gone to
waste.
At times, we find ourselves in
a moment which seems sweet and
good. And in those moments, we
have no patience for the logical or
the clear headed decision.
In those moments, we make
decisions. And it’s hard to under-
stand the effects of those decisions
in a month, a year, a decade into
(Continued on page 18)
 Manila Media Monitor
10 MAY 2007
Omerta
‘De cojones’
What the heck!
I’d gladly walk into any jail
for violating a copyright law rath-
er than walk freely with the feel-
ing that I’ve wasted a good piece
of written work, unable to share it
with peers and friends because of
some lousy stupid rule legislated
for commercial purposes.
On second thought, why will
Juan Mercado and the Press Foun-
dation of Asia send me behind
bars, after training and giving me a
certificate to be a trainor of Asean
working journalists in a course -
co-sponsored with Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung - in UP-Los Baños from
July 24 to Aug. 9, 1990?
***
So, with special thanks to Phil-
ippine Press Club-Ontario mem-
ber and former Chinese Commer-
cial News man Wesley Chua, here
is a full reprint of Juan Mercado’s
Press Alzheimer’s (Cebu Daily
News, Cebu City, Philippines,
April 24, 2007):
We mark World Press Free-
dom Day next week (first week
of May). For 2007, the theme is
“Press Under Surveillance.” Ter-
Views
By Butch DG. Galicia
rorism spurred new security mea-
sures, notes the World Association
of Newspapers (WAN), and some
are implemented with scant con-
cern for individual liberties, “no-
tably, freedom of the press.”
Journalists here get almost
daily reminders of this threat. The
failed assassination attempt on
(Philippine Daily) Inquirer corre-
spondent Delfin Mallari followed
the killing of Carmelo Palacios of
government’s Radyo ng Bayan.
Would Mallari have been Vic-
tim No. 57 under headcounts that
started after the dictatorship’s col-
lapse? Was Marlene Esperat in-
correctly tagged as 54th victim? If
so, was Mohamad Yusuf of Islam-
ic Broadcasting Victim No. 36, or
was it Ferdinand Reyes of Dipo-
log’s Press Freedom Weekly?
Political fronts, meanwhile,
muddle this macabre treadmill fur-
ther. On flimsy headcounts, they
tack shrill political statements to
nail President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo for every scalp.
Journalist groups stress accu-
racy and reject being boxed into
term of office time spans. They
track nonetheless an escalating
gory trend from legal violence to
hired gunmen. A “culture of im-
punity” prevails. So masterminds
are rarely caught and many trig-
germen go scot-free.
In 1999, WAN’s body count
was 26. The year after, Interna-
tional Press Institute reported 32.
And the Freedom Fund for Fili-
pino Journalists reported in 2006
that 57 were salvaged in work-
related assaults, i.e. attacks by
queridas, bill collectors, etc. don’t
qualify.
This week’s obit on the death
of former Chinese Commercial
News editor Rizal Yuyitung (Obit,
page 18) in Toronto could help set
this issue in context. With his pub-
lisher-brother Quintin, Rizal was
targeted in May 1970 for Marcos’
attempt to bring the press to heel.
Is that too far back for most of
today’s journalists who’re mainly
martial law’s “baby boomers”? To
avoid institutional Alzheimer’s,
here’s a brief summary:
President Marcos sought to
deport Rizal and Quintin for
“spreading communist propa-
ganda.” On May 4, 1970, defense
lawyers Juan Quijano and Joker
Arroyo were lured away from
Manila Overseas Press Club by
fake phone calls. Military agents
bundled Quintin and Rizal into a
car that drove to Lipa Air Base.
“Night of May 4, and into the
dawn of May 5, Rizal’s pregnant
wife, Veronica, stood knocking
at the gate of Immigration Com-
missioner Edmundo Reyes’ home.
She had clothes and medicines for
the CCN editor and wanted to bid
him goodbye.” The door remained
shuttered.
Dawn of May 5, the two were
deported secretly to Taipei on an
Air Force C-47. After a four-hour
“trial” on August 14, 1972, the
Taiwan Garrison Command sen-
tenced Quintin to two years; Rizal
got three years. Due to worldwide
protests, they were shoved in a
“reformatory school.”
In his Manila Chronicle eye-
witness account of “How the
Yuyitungs were Tried,” columnist
Alejandro Roces wrote: It was
“a combination of Franz Kafka,
Koestler’s Darkness at Noon and
Alice in Wonderland... The Yuyi-
tungs admitted they published As-
sociated Press and United Press
International reports, not in Taipei
- but in the Philippines, where this
is a normal everyday procedure.
This admission was interpreted as
a confession” of spreading com-
munist propaganda.
“The Yuyitungs were found
guilty of publishing western news
agency reports... Both assumed
full responsibility for whatever
Chinese Commercial News pub-
lished. There is only one de-
scription for these two men: de
cojones (they have balls). The
Yuyitungs proved that Manila and
Taipei combined could not snuff
out press freedom... It was one
time I was proud to be a newspa-
perman.”
Canberra Times publisher Ro-
han Rivett, who represented IPI,
noted: “a military tribunal dealt
with charges of alleged offenses
committed by civilians in other
countries.” And Senator Jovito
Salonga confirmed that it was a
kangaroo trial. A person can be
held criminally liable only under
the law of the place where the
crime was allegedly committed.
Joker Arroyo and Juan Quijano,
Salonga noted, defended the two
pro bono and even spent their own
funds to ensure the two journalists
would be protected.
Filipino newsmen who de-
nounced the kidnapping and farci-
cal trial included: Teodoro Locsin
Sr. and Jr., Napoleon Rama, Qui-
jano de Manila, Max Soliven, Al-
fredo Roces, Amando Doronila,
Luis Beltran, Narciso Pimental Jr.
- as well as the Economist, Times
and others.
Canada and the US offered
sanctuary for journalists the Phil-
ippines treated like dirt. And both
saw the dictator flee people-power
fury. Quintin died in the US. And
Rizal’s family will scatter his ash-
es in the Pacific Ocean “to flow
and touch all the places he called
home - China, Philippines and
Canada.”
Press Freedom Week is appro-
priate time to reread Rizal’s “Ac-
knowledgement,” published with
the book, The Case of the Yuyi-
tung Brothers. It offers pointers
(Continued on page 16)
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007
Keeping seniors at ease
SAFETY: HOME ADAPTATIONS
Most seniors wish to continue
to live in their own homes for as
long as possible.
But many homes are not de-
signed to meet their changing
needs as they age.
This Canada Safety Council
checklist identifies adaptations
that can help prevent accidents
and enhance independence.
Kitchen
► Install lever-type faucets,
or a faucet with a single lever to
control flow and temperature.
► Install pull-out shelves un-
der counter to enable you to work
from a seated position.
► Lower existing cupboards.
► Install “D” type handles on
cupboards or drawers.
StatsCan crime survey: Seniors safer
Perceived by some as a more
vulnerable group in society, se-
niors were actually three times
less likely than those under 65
to be victims of crime, Statistics
Canada (StatsCan) said.
An online CBC news story said
the recently-released StatsCan
survey found 10 percent of people
aged 65 or over had been victims
of crime, compared with 31 per-
News
PART 1
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Manila MEDIA MONITOR has compiled
literature on Seniors’ Safety, hoping its publication in a series will
keep the paper’s valued senior readers well-informed, safe and sound
wherever they are.)
► Provide electrical outlets
for small appliances in more con-
venient locations.
► Install a smoke alarm out-
side, but close to, the kitchen.
► Install a fire extinguisher
near the kitchen exit.
Bathroom
► Install shelves beside basin
for storage.
► Install a grab bar within
easy reach.
► Install additional light fix-
cent for those under 65.
The data were compiled from
victim reports in 2004 and police
data from 2005.
For crimes such as assault, sex-
ual assault or robbery, the seniors
were four times less likely to re-
port being victims than those aged
55 to 64, and nearly 20 times less
likely than those aged 15 to 24.
Seniors were more likely to be
tures near the mirror or medicine
cabinet.
► Install non-slip flooring
throughout the bathroom.
► Install lever-type faucets
or a faucet with a single lever to
control flow.
► Adjust the hot-water heater
or install a device that will prevent
the water from reaching too high a
temperature.
► Install a hand-held shower
on adjustable rod or high-low
victimized by a family member
(nearly five in 10 victims) than
non-seniors (four in 10), with the
police-reported data showing most
perpetrators were adult children of
the victims (35 percent) or current
or previous spouses (31 percent).
Perceptions that seniors tend-
ed to be more frail were undercut
by the finding that over two-thirds
(Continued on page 17)
11
mounting brackets.
Entrances
► Add a ramp to bypass exist-
ing steps.
► Install light fixtures or
floodlights to illuminate entranc-
es, steps and walkways.
► Add a grab bar or handle
near steps or doorway.
► Install a delayed-action
door closer.
► Install lever-type door han-
dles.
► Install easily accessible
light switches or sensors to con-
trol outside lights.
Stairs and Hallways
► Improve lighting in stairs.
► Install two-way light switch-
es at top and bottom of stairs.
► Install or repair existing
rails or install new rails.
► Extend handrails beyond
the top and bottom of steps.
► Install “swing clear hinges”
on doors to widen doorways.
► Install handrails along cor-
ridor walls.
Bedroom
► Use a night light to provide
a lighted path from the bedroom
to the bathroom.
► Free the path from the bed-
(Continued on page 17)
Nat’l Seniors
Council formed
The federal government
has formed the National Se-
niors Council, as it alloted
some $14 million for 775 New
Horizons for Seniors Program
projects across Canada.
The seniors council would
advise government on issues of
national importance to seniors
and help ensure that policies,
programs, and services meet
the evolving needs of seniors.
Earlier, the government:
► Provided tax relief for
seniors by allowing pension in-
come splitting; raising the age
credit from $4,066 to $5,066;
and increasing the maximum
amount of eligible pension
income that could be claimed
to $2000 from $1,000, putting
almost $900 million back in
the hands of seniors over the
next two years and removing
85,000 pensioners from the
tax rolls;
► Increased the Guaran-
teed Income Supplement max-
imum benefit;
► Proposed laws to make
it easier for seniors to apply for
and receive the Supplement;
► Increased the Refund-
able Medical Expense Supple-
ment tax credit by more than
30 per cent to $1000;
► Expanded the Compas-
sionate Care Benefit, making
more Canadians eligible; and
► Introduced a targeted
initiative for older workers.
 Feature
ied at MSU).
Manila Media Monitor The fourth and last time
MAY 2007 I saw Ricardo was last year
12 when he and wife Joy were
having lunch with friends
For Ricardo, in memoriam on Yonge St. His head was
shaven then.
Christian surrender.
Last February, when
his condition worsened, he
managed to email his class-
mates from his Notre Dame
and MSU-IIT days to de-
scribe his disposition.
self, to detach myself from
worldly desires and also an
opportunity to strengthen
my faith and love for God.
Every time I’m reminded of
the opportunity I have been
given, I feel so grateful to

Making a difference in Little did I realize he

was already very ill at the
time and was undergoing
The letter was read dur-
ing the viewing by a child-
hood friend. Optimistic to
God. You see, I can die a
thousand and one ways, and
most often death can come

our corner of the world chemotherapy.

By RICARDO J.S. CALUEN
In a community of
300,000 Filipinos in the
Greater Toronto Area, the
passing of Ricardo Ortuoste
went hardly noticed. After
all, Cado, as he was fondly
called, was not the presi-
dent of a regional grouping,
nor an “active member of
the community” with a pro-
pensity for photo-ops.
His viewing was held in
a small chapel in suburbia,
the mourners an intimate
collection of only the dear-
est friends and a handful of
family members.
Yet, as the heartfelt eu-
logies were delivered, it was
clear that Ricardo did leave
an indelible imprint in the
hearts of those whose lives
he touched in his short life.
Scion of an old and re-
spected family in Cotabato
City, Ricardo belonged to
the fifth batch of students
that graduated from the
Electronics Communica-
tions Engineering program
in the Mindanao State
University-Iligan, where I
taught.
I never had the pleasure
of having him in my History
or Political Science class.
An ace student from
since the elementary grades,
his presence in my class
would have made discus-
sion a lot livelier with his
incisive analysis of things.
Typical of newcomers
to Toronto, Ricardo and I
got connected via a network
of friends, as if validating
the idea of the six degrees
of separation.
The invitation to his son
Kiefer’s christening party
was actually our first time to
formally meet, yet we chat-
ted like long lost friends.
Truth be told, we never
exchanged a word on cam-
pus, except for the perfunc-
tory nod of respect a student
gives to a professor.
This initial encounter
was followed by two invi-
tations to the new house of
the Ortuostes in Markham:
a New Year’s eve dinner/
sleepover where our com-
mon friend Paul Bingil was
the only other guest, and a
Perhaps it was with fore-
boding that I tried to locate
the end, Ricardo wrote:
“You see, my batch-
mates, my time here is com-
to us when we least expect
it. But in my case, although
I know I’m dying, I am able
Ricardo’s business card in ing to an end. But my faith to prepare for it. See how
the months following that dictates that it is not the lucky I am?”
welcome dinner for new ar- chance meeting, the urge to medical doctors who dictate This was patently Ri-
rivals Jun and Rose Daniel reconnect gnawing. when that would be but God cardo - to see the light at the
(who were introduced to Word of Ricardo’s pass- alone. I’m also thankful that end of the tunnel.
Ricardo by Nancy Reyno, ing therefore came as a I have this disease, which It almost bordered on
who turned out to be his shock. gives me time to prepare stoicism, as when he was
wife Joy’s dorm mate in Yet, Ricardo was pre- for the final hour and an op- in between jobs and he had
Manila; Jun himself stud- pared to meet his end with portunity to humble my- (Continued on page 18)
Ricardo “Cado” Ortuoste
Feb. 1, 1965 - April 26, 2007
Cado arrived in Toronto on June 7, 1997. I and our son Kyle
joined him three months later. In between the laughter and the
youthful countenance he wanted us, his friends and his peers to
remember him by, he worked hard to give me and his sons Kyle
and Kiefer, who was born in Toronto, the best of what life had
to offer. He worked with Sprint Canada, AT&T Canada, Group
Telecom and Telus Corp. Cado with sons Kyle and Kiefer
But he was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer in March, 2005. After two chemotherapies and five
radiations, he breathed his last at the Markham Stouffville Hospital and bade us farewell.
Cado had passion for life, his mission was to help newcomers and he loved the Raptors basketball team. We will
truly miss his singing, jokes and smiling face. Joy Vestal-Ortuoste
Cado -- a native of Cotabato City in the Philippines -- was laid to rest at the Christ the King Cemetery on
April 30, after a funeral Mass at the St. Patrick’s Church and April 29 viewing at the Dixon-Garland Funeral
Home, all in Markham.
He is survived by wife Joy Vestal-Ortuoste and sons Kyle and Kiefer; mother Perla Ortuoste; grandmother
Mary Lumibao-Corpuz; siblings Reynaldo, Katherine O. Deveza and Kristine O. Atienza; stepmother-in-law Helen
Lee-Vestal; sister-in-law Jiji Vestal-Hanson; stepsister-in-law Jonah Mei Vestal; brothers-in-law Jose Vestal, Jr., and
Jonathan Vestal.
 T he day after the mudslide on the island of Leyte in
the Philippines was reported in the United States, I received
a worried phone call from a colleague here at the Univer-
sity of Georgia. Tim had seen footage of the tragedy on the
Feature
evening news. Though unsure where in the Philippines it
A Truer Face of the Philippines
had occurred, he was concerned that my wife Pam’s fam-
ily had been caught up in the event. I thanked him for his
concern and responded that I was confident Pam’s family
wasn’t involved. Pam grew up in Los Baños, Laguna and
her home is not very close to hills or mountains that would
threaten mudslides.
Over the next week my assurance to Tim was repeated
to many others who were concerned for Pam. I was grateful
that they cared enough about her family to ask for clarifica-
tion. On long solitary drives across Georgia that week, I
had plenty of time to think about this latest tragedy in the
Philippines and to ponder its implications.
My first realizations were that good news from the Phil-
ippines is rarely reported in the United States and that most
Americans know very little about the archipelago nation.
Our countries have shared a very close history over the
past 100 years; the Philippines was a protectorate of the
United States for nearly 50 years after the conclusion of the
Spanish-American War. American soldiers fought and died
alongside Filipino troops in the battles against the Japanese
in World War II. Strategic American air and naval bases
were maintained in the Philippines until the early 1990’s.
Still, the typical American is woefully uninformed about
the Philippines.
More importantly, the little that is known paints a pic-
ture of this country that is, at best, skewed, and at worst
perpetuates regrettable stereotypes of the culture and citi-
zens. The printed and network news that reaches the Amer-
ican public largely shapes our view of the world. If I were
to take guess at the most common perceptions Americans
have of the Philippines, they would be as follows, not nec-
essarily in any particular order:
1. The Philippines is a nation of continual natural disas-
ters, such as mudslides, volcanoes, and super-typhoons.
2. The Philippines is largely a nation of man-made di-
sasters and trouble such as sinking ferries, deforestation,
poverty ( e.g. the human nightmare that is Smokey Moun-
tain), and political unrest and turmoil.
3. The fact Americans are most likely to know about
the Philippines would involve 3,000 pairs of shoes from
Malacañang Palace.
4. All Filipinos who come to the US are nurses, medi-
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007 13
By BOB R.C. KEMERAIT
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia
cal technicians, or young Filipina brides. (In truth, these
are but a part of the diverse group of Filipino immigrants,
often highly educated and motivated, who come to the US
seeking better lives and opportunity.)
5. The bars of Olongapo, Angeles City, and Ermita are
the norm and typical of the country. (In fact, much of this
has changed in all three locations.)
6. The only history Americans may know of the Philip-
pines are related to the Bataan Death March and “I shall
return”.
7. Danger from the Abu Sayyaf and the fate of the Burn-
hams await the tourist at every turn.
8. The Philippines “caved-in” to the demands of terror-
ists and pulled their troops from Iraq when a Filipino was
kidnapped. (Most Americans do not realize how vulnerable
vast numbers of Filipino overseas workers across the Mid-
dle East are to abuse and terrorist attacks. The government
in the Philippines can do little to protect them.)
Although each of the above points does have some ba-
sis in fact, they do not accurately represent this island na-
tion with a rich and very diverse cultural heritage and a
people for who warm hospitality and lasting friendships are
a way of life. I believe that creating an image and reality
of the Philippines based upon the perceptions above would
be the same as defining the United States as a land of gang
violence, drug abuse, obesity, and lack of regard or consid-
eration for anything that is not “American”.
Because my wife is from the Philippines, I have had
the opportunity to be immersed in Filipino culture here at
home and on visits to her home in Los Baños. As I was
thinking about the stereotypes of the Philippines that are
prevalent in the US, I also thought about my own percep-
tions of the Philippines and Filipino culture. When I recall
(Continued on page 15)
A BREAK WITH MAESTRO ERIC KUNZEL Who? What?
Gov’t urges traveling permanent
residents to check, renew cards
OTTAWA - In
July 2007, five-year
Canadian perma-
nent resident (PR)
cards will begin
expiring. The cards
are a vital docu-
ment for Canadian
permanent residents
who travel interna-
tionally, as these are
needed to be pre-
sented to re-enter
Canada.
The government
advises Canadian
permanent residents
Filipino members of the Mississauga Choral Society Mila Magno, Livvy Ca- to check the expiry
macho and Elsie Arao take a break from rehearsals to pose with Maestro date on their card if
Eric Kunzel of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Kunzel is in town to conduct they plan to travel outside
the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a concert of the Magical Music of Dis- Canada after July 1, and to
ney with the Mississauga Choral Society at Roy Thomson Hall on May 15 at apply for a new card before
8:00 p.m. and May 16 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Kunzel has led the Cincin- it is too late.
nati Pops Orchestra to fame in the tradition of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Citizenship and Immi-
Pops Orchestra. He continues to attract large crowds of avid pop aficiona- gration Minister Diane Fin-
dos wherever he conducts. Toronto has been a regular destination of Mae- ley notes the government
stro Kunzel for many years with the MCS (under the direction of Chrys Bent- has a web, media and poster
ley) providing the choral component of the performances. Elsie, Livvy, and campaign to this effect.
Mila also sing with the Pamana Vocal Ensemble and the St. Francis Xavier “We’re encouraging
Church Choir, where Mila is pianist/accompanist. people to plan ahead,” Fin-
YOUR RELIABLE MEDIA PARTNERS IN
COMPLETE INFORMATION,
COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION AND
COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION.
416-285-8583
Manila Media Monitor
14
ley says. “Permanent resi-
dents should check the ex-
piry date on their cards and
apply for a new one well be-
fore they travel,” she adds.
The PR card confirms
the holder’s status in Cana-
da and must be shown be-
fore boarding commercial
transportation (plane, train,
boat or bus) when returning
MAY 2007
to Canada.
Without a valid
PR card, a person
will be disallowed
to board, and will
need to make al-
ternative travel ar-
rangements at his/
her own expense
and inconvenience.
Permanent resi-
dents who have
obtained Canadian
citizenship no lon-
ger need a PR card.
The PR card
was introduced on
June 28, 2002, for
new immigrants
to Canada with the imple-
mentation of the Immigra-
tion and Refugee Protection
Act.
The cards are valid for a
five-year period. In excep-
tional circumstances, some
cards expire after one year.
The PR card also in-
creases Canada’s border se-
curity. PR
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007 Who? What? 15

Canadian multiculturalism in danger

Has multiculturalism become
just an aspect of Canadian politi-
cal semantics, a magnet to attract
the votes of a growing number of
immigrants from diverse origins
who have made Canada their per-
manent residence?
By the way the government
disregards it, multiculturalism
might as well be on its death
throes, a meaningless word with-
out any potential gain for the mil-
lions of Canadians it referred to.
Ben Viccari, president of the
Canadian Ethnic Media Asso-
ciation (CEMA) circulated this e-
mail on April 21 to fellow CEMA
members, including the Manila
Media Monitor’s Ace Alvarez,
Gie Alvarez and Butch Galicia:
“A serious situation is arising
that affects all of us concerned
with Canadian Multicultural-
ism and I am writing to ask you
to make your voice and that of
your readers, viewers of listeners
heard.”
“The policy of Multicultural-
ism was originally advocated by
key members of the Ukrainian-
Canadian community, introduced
as official policy by Prime Min-
ister Trudeau in 1971, included
in the Canadian Constitution and
Charter of Rights and further-
more became The Canadian Mul-
ticulturalism Act of 1988, passed
unanimously by all parties.
“When the present govern-
ment gained power, it was first an-
nounced that Jason Kenney, par-
liamentary secretary to the prime
minister would be responsible for
Multiculturalism, then the respon-
sibility was switched to Bev Oda,
minister of Canadian heritage, and
some months ago was returned
to Kenney who has been named
Secretary of State for Multicul-
turalism and Canadian Identity,
apparently without Cabinet rep-
resentation. The Department of
Canadian Heritage continues to
administer the Multiculturalism
program.
“If you read the news release
from Colleen Beaumier, Liberal
MP for Brampton West, you will
want to know, as I do, why gov-
ernment funding to Multicultural-
ism has been slashed in half.
“Can it be that the Prime Min-
ister has a hidden agenda regard-
ing Canadian Multiculturalism?
Can it be that a serious decline in
funding to Multicuturalism pres-
ages an attempt to dismantle the
policy that so many Canadians
cherish and, indeed, we, as mem-
bers of CEMA do by belonging to
an organization that ‘supports the
principles of Multiculturalism and
Canadian citizenship and the right
of free expresson without ethno-
centirc bias’?”
“If you are concerned with the
present government’s apparent
downgrading of Multiculturalism
would you please as a member of
an ethnocultural community e-
mail your protest to:
The Right Honourable Ste-
phen Harper, Prime Minister
of Canada, Harper.S@parl.
gc.ca with copies to Mr. Jason
Kenney, Secretary of State for
Multiculturalism and Canadian
Identity, House of Commons,
Ottawa, Ontario, Kenney.J@
parl.gc.ca; Mr. Sterling Lynch,
Office of Colleen Beaumioer;
MP Beaumier.C@parl.gc.ca;
and Ben Viccari, canscene@
ogers.com.
Meanwhile, Liberal Critic fopr
Multiculturalism Colleen Beaumi-
er said “numbers don’t lie.”
“All the spin in the world
won’t change the fact that the
Conservative Government has
slashed funding to Canada’s Mul-
ticulturalism program by half.”
In 2005-2006, roughly $34
million was spent on the Canada’s
Multiculturalism Program. Of this,
$16 million went to programs to
promote intercultural understand-
ing and $18 million to programs
to encourage participation in com-
munity and civic life.
In an Arpil 13 press release,
the Conservatives claimed to have
budgeted only $17 million for
Multiculturalism in 2006-2007,
which is half of what was spent in
2005-2006. In the next two years,
the Conservatives confirmed they
again planned to spend only $17
million per year and, according to
Canadian Heritage’s own docu-
ments, none of this money was
budgeted for programs to promote
inter-cultural understanding.
“I guess spending half the
money spent in 2005-2006 seems
like a lot for Mr. Harper who,
when leader of the Alliance Party,
indicated that he doesn’t think
Canada’s Multiculturalism policy
and program should receive any
funding at all,” said Ms. Beaumi-
er. “Its about time this Conserva-
tive Government be honest about
its plans to abolish Canada’s Mul-
ticulturalism program.”

A truer face of the Philippines

(From page 13)
memories and thoughts about all things “Pi- 14. I think of San Miguel Beer, fighting In fact, the problems facing the Philip- ture.
noy” I envision the following: cocks, and Jollibee Burgers. pines are so severe that one must wonder if Without question, Americans visiting
1. When I think of the Philippines, I see 15. I think of ice cream with strange the country can ever truly overcome them. the Philippines would be warmly welcomed
large extended families that live happily to- colors and exotic flavors like ube (purple However, it is my experience that the and enjoy a destination of great exotic ap-
gether in small places. I think of large fami- yam), cheese, and macapuno (young coco- richness of the culture, the warmth of the peal.
lies that remain not only physically close, nut). people, and the sheer beauty of the land Such a venture would soon show that
but emotionally close as well. 16. I think of exuberant children every- and sea overshadow these problems in my true face of the Philippines is not the mud
2. I think of lush tropical growth, radi- where. memory. and destruction on Leyte, but in the spirit
ant flowers, and bountiful fruits of every My thoughts of the Philippines rarely I wish that more people in the United of those who mourn the loss and those who
color, shape, and size. overlap with common perceptions from States could visit the Philippines and share worked tirelessly to free the victims.
3. I think of Filipino overseas workers those whose knowledge of the archipelago in a culture and people that have enchanted
who sacrifice comfort and endure loneli- is limited to what appears on television or is and embraced me. (As sent to the Manila Media Mon-
ness and abuse to work abroad e.g. in the printed in the newspaper. Better understanding of each culture itor by Tenny Soriano from an e-mail
Middle East, Singapore, and Hong Kong to Sure, as in any country, there are serious could ensure close relations and coopera- of former Consul General in Toronto
provide income for a family at home. problems in the Philippines. tion between two proud nations for the fu- Susan Castrence)
4. I think of the smell of fried garlic,
fried fish, and fried daing (dried fish) waft-
ing from the neighbor’s kitchen. (Both be-
cause of the close proximity of the homes
and because of the hospitality where one is
welcomed and expected in the neighbor’s
home.)
5. I think of barkadas (a group of very
close friends), potluck dinners, and lots of
merienda (mid-afternoon snacks).
6. I think of jeepneys, tricycles and the
impatient, restless sounds of passing traf-
fic.
7. I think of brightly colored bandanas
pressed tightly to the noses and mouths of
pedestrians.
8. I think of the solitary cry of “Taho!!”
(bean curd) coming from out on the street
early in the morning. Esto lo pienso buscar
y comer!
9. I think of warm smiles, courtesy,
cheerful bantering,and “Hey, Joe!” as I
walk through Los Baños.
10. I think of wet markets full of fresh
pork, chicken, and fish, and vegetable stalls
brimming with vegetables, mangoes, pine-
apples, and other tropical fruits.
11. I think of boys walking with an
arm over their buddies’ shoulders and girls
walking hand-in-hand.
12. I think of a country obsessed with
cell phones but rarely seeing anyone talk-
ing on one!
13. I think of heat and humidity and
rain.
16 Who? What? Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007

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Ooops & Bloops ...
(From page 7)
fast Forum at Casa Manila
in York Mills, Toronto, Fili-
pino Bulletin Editor Ricky
Caluen and the PPC-O’s
first lady, Myrna Soriano,
were to tell me something,
but requested, “P’wera
‘Ooops and Bloops’, ha?”
I proceeded to listen
closely, and in fact heard
completely, what the two
were to say.
What did they say? I’m
sorry to disappoint you, but
there was nothing there for
this column.
***
Our good friend Jess
Carlos -the PR guy, and
possessor of many titles
from various great orga-
nizations (Sorry Jess, we
can’t put all your titles
this time. Space is limited,
aside from the fact that
I told you the last time I
saw you, that next time, if
we publish all your titles
to the various offices you
hold, we’ll bill you for the
space), sent Manila Media
Monitor a photo release
(look right, that’s Jess in
the muddle) absent the
caption.
Editor Butch e-mailed
me saying, “Sayang, hin-
di nilagay ni Jess kung
sino-sino ang nasa litrato.
Sana, nakilala na rin na-
tin ang mga may hitsura
sa litrato. Nyek!!!!”
My response to the
music-loving Manila Me-
dia Monitor editor was,
“H’wag mo nang pag-inte-
resan ang mga nasa photo
ni Jess Carlos. Ipakikilala
ko sa iyo si Cecil. P’re, ang
galing kumanta.
“Si Cecil ang tunay na
‘NYEK!’, dahil ‘pag hindi
siya kumakanta, Cesar
ang pangalan niya.”
***
On behalf of one or-
ganization, I recently sent
out a reminder to members
These are the volunteers at the Intercede office who helped clients prepare
their income tax for free.
Omerta ...
(From page 10)
for tomorrow’s inevitable
brawls with those hostile to
press freedom.
“Marcos decided to
test the waters with actions
against Quintin and my-
self, believing we were the
reminding them of their
yearly dues.
One reply I got states: “I
am in Bolivia, South Amer-
ica, in my vacation, sorry
about.
“I will be there in April
and I will get renovate my
membership card, I hope
yours understone,
weakest link in the Philip-
pine press,” Rizal wrote.
“During our sham trial,
Commissioner Edmundo
Reyes shamelessly admit-
ted that his ‘task’ was to
pressure the press to submit
to whims and wishes of the
man in power...
“Instead of being cowed,
“Thakns so much.
Your friend.”
I replied, “Okay, I will.”
***
After sending our
RSVP to Teresa Torralba
for the “MWF Press con-
ference cited above, she
wrote, “ … this is my first
ever experience on these
the journalists fought back
ferociously. And the intensi-
ty of the international press
responses forced Marcos
to retreat. Led by Joaquin
“Chino” Roces, the press
proved that brute force
might suppress the pen for
a time... but will, in the end,
coalesce people power to
things and … I will need
to glance at you, Mon (Da-
tol), Butch & Jojo Tadu-
ran for confidence.”
I wrote back, “You
may glance at us (as you
say for your confidence),
but what you can be as-
sured of is that we will be
staring at you being the
star of the press con (so,
just the same, don’t lose
your confidence).”
***
Producer Ed de Guzman
shares with me business
information on the prog-
ress of his group, happily
saying that aside from his
group’s radio program, his
group has come out with a
newspaper, and in June will
come up with a television
program.
Asking him their airing
station, he said, “Ah, pare
ko,we’re not releasing yet
that information.”
Ka-boom! He welcomed
me … and shut me out right
after the loving welcome.”
Nicely done, my friend.
overthrow tyrannical rule.”
***
The Manila Media Mon-
itor joins journalists world-
wide in doffing hats to Rizal
Yuyitung, as he joins the
realm of Eternal Truth and
Infinite Freedom under the
rule of the Divine Author.
He wrote 30 in big, bold
letters for all. who cherish
the freedom of speech and
of the press, to behold and
keep close to their hearts.
Let the celebration of
World Press Freedom Week
on the first week of May be
in the honor of Rizal Yuyi-
tung - Filipino, Chinese,
Canadian, global citizen.
***
‘De cojones.’ No, it’s
not that popular rallying cry
of the good old Cursillo era.
The way Mercado used it, it
looks like it has something
to do with the Kansunsilyo.
***
‘De cojones.’ Sounds
like that loud curse - no,
it’s ‘pendejo!’ - I overhear
from loud newsmen embed-
ded nightly at the bar of the
Philippine National Press
Club in Intramuros during
the club’s golden (read as
good, old, then) years.
***
‘De cojones.’ I know
Courier publisher Ramon
Datol has something in
mind. Ask him. butchgali-
cia@yahoo.com
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007 17

StatsCan crime ...

(From page 11)
(68 percent) of violent crimes produced no
physical injury, a figure comparable to the
general population.
Theft of personal property among se-
niors was less than half the rate found
among those 55 to 64, and nearly eight
times lower than for those 15 to 24.
For crimes such as break and enter,
property theft, vehicle theft or vandalism,
seniors were nearly three times less likely
to experience them than the others.
Seniors also reported a growing sense
of satisfaction with their personal safety
from crime, with 92 percent feeling satis-
fied, compared with 89 percent in 1999.
Although the younger population was
found to be relatively less safe than seniors,
94 percent of that group reported satisfac-
tion with their safety.
The study noted victimization surveys
relied on the ability of respondents to re-
port accurately, and that the incomplete
responses of the most vulnerable seniors,
who might be more isolated or cognitively
impaired, could cause an underestimate of
crimes suffered.
On the other hand, victimization surveys
generally produced higher rates of reported
crime than police data.

Safety: Home ...

(From page 11)
room to the bathroom from obstacles.
► Relocate bedroom to main floor level.
► If your area does not have 9-1-1 ser-
vice, keep a list of important contacts near the
telephone (police, fire, etc.) in large print.
► Keep a flashlight nearby for emergen-
cies.
► Install a personal response system
that would allow you to call for help if you
needed it.
Basement and Laundry Area
► Provide shelves or storage near ap-
pliances so that washing supplies can be
conveniently located.
► Consider a basement telephone to
save climbing steps.
Closets and Storage Areas
► Install bi-folding or accordion doors.
► Add or lower shelves.
► Install lights in closets.
► Add or lower rods.
Hiring a Contractor
Before you start hiring a contractor,
write a detailed description of the work you
would like done and get zoning approval (if
required).
Also:
► Check with friends and neighbors for
contracting recommendations.
► Check with local building materials
suppliers or hardware stores.
► Consult with the local home build-
ers’ association.
► Check with the Better Business Bu-
reau for complaints against any firm you
are considering hiring.
► Ask for a reference (past custom-
ers).
► Get at least three bids to be sure you
are paying a fair price.
Remember that the lowest bid is not al-
ways the best.
A very low bid may mean the contrac-
tor doesn’t know enough about the work to
estimate it properly.
Further, make sure you have a written
contract that fully describes the work you
want to have done, the price to be paid for
doing it, and the start and completion dates
of the project.
Unwritten assurances are not binding.
Don’t sign the contract unless you agree
that it contains everything that you have
been promised.
Silayan
seniors’
program
until Dec.
Silayan Community
Centre’s Reaching Out,
Moving Forward Project
for seniors would run up to
December.
Funded by Human Re-
sources and Development
Canada (HRDC), the se-
niors’ program is focused
on nutrition, recreation,
health and wellness, medi-
cal communication and re-
ferral services.
Silayan president Willie
Nabus has called on seniors
to avail themselves of the
program.
Meanwhile, Nabus also
called on women and care-
givers’ to attend Silayan’s
second computer literacy,
resume assistance and em-
ployment workshop on May
27. The first workshop was
conducted on May 13.
In other developments,
Silayan also celebrated its’
36th founding year under
the theme “Barong at Saya,”
wherein Silayan volunteers
were recognized.
Capping the celebration
was a dinner-dance at the
main hall of the Saint Luke
United Church in down-
town Toronto.
On-going Silayan activ-
ities included counselling,
newcomers orientation and
volunteer service training in
office and field work. PR
TURNING 65
Lucita Palon
celebrates her
65th birth an-
niversary in the
company of family
members (fore-
ground) Andrew,
Marcus, (middle
row) Vince, Adam,
David, Marilou,
Marciano, Maybel-
line, (back) Liezel,
Christian, Jesse
and Chantal.
Making a difference ...
(From page 12)
a family and mortgage to
worry about.
In truth, it was the
people around Ricardo that
were lucky to have been
considered his friends.
During the brief but
emotion-laden eulogy at
the viewing, misty-eyed
childhood pals and Toronto
friends took turns in recall-
ing how Ricardo made a
difference in their lives.
Gifted with a keen
understanding of the sci-
ences, Ricardo enhanced
team work among his high
school classmates by acting
as team leader in science
projects, instead of going
solo with a bright idea.
He knew when and
how to hog the limelight,
Manila Media Monitor
18 MAY 2007
ORGANIZED. Camarines Norte natives in Toronto organize themselves into
the Camarines Norte Association of Canada (Ontario). JT
CNAC-O to ratify by-laws
Members of the newly-
formed Camarines Norte
Association Canada-Ontario
(CNAC-O) are set to meet
on May 27 to elect their first
set of officers and directors
and ratify the group’s Con-
stitution and By-Laws.
CNAC-O aims to be a
vehicle for family-focused
endeavors through commu-
nity-based initiatives.
CNAC-O hopes to de-
velop and deliver projects
and programs to benefit
comprovincianos.
The charter members in-
clude Tony San Juan, Jojo
Taduran, Suzy Llanera, Lar-
ry Bercasio, Elizabeth Cruz,
Priscillano Ostonal, Jr., Lida
Espanol-Muguerza, Willie
Nabus, Minda Alban, John-
ny Araneta, Ruel Barnedo,
Carlito Cruz, Sonia De La
Cruz, Salvador Gumabao,
Sylvia Leaver, Rowena De
as when he volunteered to
head a campus organization
that gave him maximum
exposure ... to the co-eds!
(Classmates may still be
wondering whether it was
fate or scientific calcula-
tion that made Ricardo win
the hand of wife Joy Vestal,
a popular campus beauty-
and-brains.)
Ricardo’s generosity
was unqualified. Many of
those who came to condole
with the family were com-
provincianos from Cotabato
who had no place to stay
while new in Toronto.
The Ortuoste residence
When we die, things that we have done for ourselves
will be lost in the grave; but, what we have done for
others will gain immortality.” Thomas Paine
Who? What?
Los Reyes, Shirley Rosales,
Jocelyn San Juan, Ramon
San Juan, Salvador San
Juan, Jr., Virgie San Juan,
Kambz Silvio, Mel Silvio,
Shey Silvio, Pedro Tejada,
Vinzons Epis Wong, Lydia
Madrona-Yanto, and Rom-
mel Yanto.
They are Toronto resi-
dents either born, affiliated
by birth or marriage, or
lived in any of the 12 towns
-- Basud , Capalonga, Daet
, Jose Panganiban , Labo,
Mercedes, Paracale, San
Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente,
Santa Elena, Talisay and
Vinzons -- of Camarines
Norte.
The group will intro-
duce itself by participating
at the Philippine Indepen-
dence Day Council-spon-
sored pot-luck celebration
at the Earl Bales Park on
June 16. PR
was a haven of sorts for
many of them until they
could go on their own.
The pastor of St. Pat-
rick’s Church best summed
up what Ricardo had ac-
complished in this life. The
good Father recalled that in
his own youth he dreamt of
making a difference in the
world. Later, he realized he
could do only so much.
Father was right about
Ricardo - that the monu-
ment he created of his
earthly existence is carved
in the hearts of those dear to
him: his family, friends, and
colleagues.
So, tukayo, au revoir.
Let’s have that scotch at some
other time .... and clime.
Ancop, CFC
set bloodlet
Ancop International
and Couples for Christ
(CFC) urge the commu-
nity to donate blood in a
donor clinic at the Trans-
figuration of Our Lord
Parish in Etobicoke on
June 30, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Ancop and CFC are
Partners for Life with Ca-
nadian Blood Services,
organizing regular clinics
that have helped save the
lives of over 500 people.
Partners for Life al-
lows groups to commit to
saving lives by donating
blood as a team.
The need for blood
is ongoing, and patients
treated for cancer, in sur-
gery, and trauma depend
on a stable supply of
blood year round. PR
The Vimy Spin ...
(From page 9)
from seeing all but Shooting
for Change in which I had
some direct involvement,
but from screeners, I have
had access to Bolly Double
and A Winter Tale. Since
the former may be released
later this month, here’s my
take on it.
Bolly Double
The impact of South
Asians - Canada’s fast-
est growing ethnocultural
group - is becoming signifi-
cant.
Two glossy women’s
magazines - in English -
have appeal far beyond the
communities they speak to.
The vogue or South
Asian food is reflected in
the growth of restaurants.
And we’re told a large
number of non-South Asians
watch Bollywood programs
on television.
The April celebrity
wedding of two Indian su-
perstars has wide coverage
in mainstream media.
Premiered at the recent
Reel World Film Festival
was a Canadian film Bolly
Double, produced by Dan-
iel Hill, whose macabre
comedy Rhinoceros Eyes
scored such a success at
the Toronto Festival a few
years back.
It’s directed with enthu-
FCT activity schedule
Here is a schedule of activities at the Filipino
Centre Toronto furnished by Dir. Aida D’ Orazio
May 19 & 20: Victoria
Day Invitational Basketball
Tournament; Opening at
9 a.m., Winston Churchill
School
May 26 at 11 a.m.:
Graduation ceremonies of
Filipino language classes
attendees and closing rites
of Homework Club
May 27 at 2 - 4 p.m.:
Health Seminar on Hyper-
tension. Guest lecturer: Dr.
Nenette De Villa
May 27 at 4 - 5 p.m.:
Information Session re: RN
Registration with College
of Nurses of Ontario spon-
sored by the Filipino Nurses
Association of Ontario and
the FCT
May 27 at 4 - 5 p.m.:
Living Will and Last Will
and Testament workshop
June 2 at 2 - 4 p.m.:
Lopez-Kamil
Nuptials
Angelito Lopez Jr.
and Aya Kamil tied
the know in civil
rites on May 7. The
reception, tendered
by Angelito Lopez
Sr. and Benilda Lo-
pez, followed at
the Imperial Buffet.
Wedding sponsors
included Chi and
Frank Benitez; Es-
trella Javier and Eric
Gayas. MP
siasm by Arun Bahali who
divides his time between
Bollywood and England
where he works on a BBC
show.
Bolly Double takes as
its starting point the mak-
ing of a Bollywood film in
Canada with all the usual
trimmings.
A temperamental super-
star (Koel Purie) imported
from India hasn’t shown
up for the shooting In fact,
she’s been kidnapped by
gangsters.
A timid, would-be ac-
tress who, when she doffs
her glasses is a look-alike
for the star is forced into
the production with some
amusing complications.
How the star’s rescue is
achieved and the absurd sit-
uations arising from a plot
that sounds convoluted but
really isn’t make for some
good comedy.
As in the real Bolly-
wood, coincidences play a
big part.
Bolly Double, a Cana-
dian film, is just one more
example of how we all ben-
efit from our diversity.
(Used with permis-
sion. Ben Viccari is the
President of the Canadian
Ethnic Media Associa-
tion [CEMA] and makes
FCT Outreach School Pro-
gram seminar with the
Toronto Catholic District
School Board re: Under-
standing the Education Sys-
tem in Ontario for Filipino
parents of elementary and
high school students
June 9 - 10 at 12 nn to
10 p.m.: PISTAHAN SA
TORONTO, Nathan Philips
Square, featuring Filipino
Singing Idol Championships
(Toronto vs. Montreal)
Every Tuesday, 7 - 9
p.m.: Line-dancing class,
$5 per session
Every Tuesday, 2 - 4
p.m.: Free Peer Nutrition
Program, in cooperation
with Toronto Public Health,
for parents, nannies and
others who take care of
children from six months to
six years old. PR
Learning ...
(From page 9)
our future.
And sometimes those
moments last longer than
they should.
It would be easy for us
to sit back and judge. It’s
tempting.
Looking at it on hind-
sight, it’s clear that Jenna
was rushing towards a bad
ending.
Many of us have made
bad decisions in our life.
Sometimes, we had no
choice; other times, we
didn’t know better.
When I was her age, I’d
like to think I would have
made better decisions.
But I can’t be certain.
Jenna was brave to share her
story. She didn’t have to.
I don’t know how Jen-
na’s story will end. She is
bright, determined and has
learned a bitter lesson. I am
certain that she can turn her
life around.
frequent appearances on
OMNI TV Commentary.
Some of his commentar-
ies are republished in this
publication and slightly ex-
panded in some cases from
their 70-second broadcast
originals. For more of his
work, please visit Ben’s
website at: http://canscene.
ripple.ca)
MAY 2007 Manila Media Monitor 19

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 The Philippines 23
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007

BIG EXPLOSION COMING? Mt. Bulusan, a 1,565-meter high stratovolcano,

has, on May 11, spewed two millimeters of volcanic ash over Barangays Co-
gon, Cawayan, Gulang-Gulang, Tinampo, Bolos of Irosin town; Bura-buran,
Caladgao, Sangkayon, Bacolod, Puting Sapa and Aniog of Juban.

OFWs deployed in US,

Canada double in 2006
DAVAO CITY - The number of over-
seas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed in
the US and Canada has doubled last year
compared to previous years.
In a statement, the Bureau of Labor
and Employment Statistics (BLES) of the
Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) reported that deployment of OFWs
in the US grew by 7,278 in 2006, reaching
11,406, compared to 2005 with only 4,128.
BLES added the documented OFW de-
ployment to Canada grew by 2,784 from
only 3,629, reaching 6,413, in the same
period.
This made Canada the 17th top destina-
tion of OFWs among over 180 host coun-
tries worldwide.
DOLE attributed the growth of deploy-
ment in Canada and the U.S. on the coun-
try’s internationally acknowledged global
migration management system where
skilled OFWs are properly contracted and
deployed for overseas jobs.
The system, recognized by the United
Nations, has averted and prevented illegal
entry of foreign workers detrimental to both
the host and home countries of migrants,
DOLE said. PNA

Manila Media Monitor
24 MAY 2007
MAY 10, 1897: THE EXECUTION OF ANDRES BONIFACIO
Muting the Cry of Balintawak
On May 8, 1897 in
Maragondon, Cavite, a
hastily-formed military
court loyal to revolution-
ary Philippine President
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
sentenced Katipunan leader
Andres Bonifacio and his
brother and aide Procopio
to death, on the grounds of
trying to overthrow the just-
constituted government.
It was claimed that Agu-
inaldo changed the sentence
from death to exile.
But his generals argued
that Bonifacio’s death was
imperative to protect the
best interests of the revolu-
tion. Alive, Bonifacio would
only threaten and divide the
revolutionary forces.
Thus, on the early morn-
ing of Monday, May 10,
1897, Gen. Lazaro Makapa-
gal and four soldiers - on
orders of courtmartial presi-
dent Gen. Mariano Noriel
- took Andres and Procopio
from the Maragondon jail.
Makapagal had been hand-
ed a sealed letter, with strict
orders to read it after reach-
ing Mt. Nagpatong in the
Maragondon mountains.
The sealed letter was
Philippine History
Spanish colonial rule was
rife with social discontent,
when the bourgeoisie would
rather stay silent and coop-
erate with oppressors, when
revolutionary politicians
grabbed and stayed in pow-
er by eliminating threats to
their interests.
In an essay “What the
Filipinos Should Know,”
Bonifacio - a poor lad from
Tondo who never complet-
ed high school but versed
himself well in politics,
economics, the social sci-
ences, Les Miserables and
the French Revolution, Karl
Marx, etc. - wrote in Taga-
log:
“Itinuturo ng katuwi-
ran, na wala tayong iba
pang maaantay kundi
lalo’t lalong kaalipinan.
Itinuturo ng katuwiran,
ANDRES lalo’t lalong kaalipustaan
at lalo’t lalong kaalipinan.
Itinuturo ng katuwiran,
na huwag nating sayangin
ang panahon sa pag-asa sa
ipinangakong kaginhawa-
han na hindi darating at
PROCOPIO hindi mangyayari. Itinutu-
ro ng katuwiran ang tayo’y
Filipino artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s mural on the Filipino struggle for umasa sa ating at huwag
liberty, with Katipunan head Andres Bonifacio as the central figure, beckons antayin sa iba ang ating
at the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall. Much of the mural’s kabuhayan. Itinuturo na
power springs from the image of Bonifacio who personifies the revolution- katuwiran ang tayo’y mag-
ary spirit. Inset are portraits of Andres and Procopio, both executed on May kaisang-loob, magkaisang
10, 1897 at Mt. Nagpatong on a hill called Tala in Maragondon, Cavite. isip at akala at nang tayo’y
magkaisa na maihanap ng
an order from Gen. Noriel the soldiers dug a shallow Thus noted historian Dr. lunas ang naghaharing
to execute Andres and Pro- grave for the two men and Isagani R. Medina in his kasamaan sa ating Bay-
copio. Makapagal speedily covered the bodies with book Heroes of the Philip- an.”
carried out the command with twigs and weeds. pine Revolution. (“Reason tells us that
and the Bonifacio brothers Then they hurriedly left 110 years ago we cannot expect anything
were shot. Using bayonets to escape Spanish troops That was 110 years ago, but more sufferings, more
and bolos (long knives), combing the mountain. when the Philippines under treachery, more insults,
and more slavery. Reason
tells us not to fritter away
time for the promised
prosperity that will never
come. Reason teaches us
to rely on ourselves and
not to depend on others
for our living. Reason
tells us to be united, that
we may have the strength
to combat the evils in our
country.”)
Alas! These might be
the same reasons why Boni-
facio - who spearheaded
the Philippine revolution
against Spanish rule - had
to be killed.
He was a threat to the
then prevailing order of life,
in all its evil forms.
Another noted Filipino
historian Ambeth Ocampo
wrote: “Anyone who knows
Philippine history will un-
derstand why Bonifacio is
remembered on his birth-
day, Nov. 30, rather than
the date of his death, May
10, 1897. Unlike Rizal who
was executed by the enemy,
and other heroes who died
in battle, Bonifacio was ex-
ecuted by fellow Filipinos.”
Repeating history
Manila Times’ Rome
Jorge wrote: “Secret cabals
with mystical beliefs dat-
ing to the dark ages work
to overthrow government -
this isn’t a fictional plot of
Dan Brown, author of the
bestseller Da Vinci Code.
This is our history, and hun-
dred years ago many of our
heroes such as Andres Bon-
ifacio were members of a
(Continued on page 25)
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007 25
Philippine History
Muting the Cry of Balintawak ...
22, 1896, the Katipune-
ros under Andres Bonifacio
(From page 24) proceeded to Pugadlawin.
clandestine fraternity outlawed The next day, in the yard
by church and state.” of Juan Ramos, the son of
“Political elite bar election Melchora Aquino who was
of laborer; new government later called the “Mother of
reeks of nepotism, regionalism the Katipunan,” Bonifacio
and elitism - these aren’t the asked his men whether they
headlines for today’s govern- were prepared to fight to the nation to take up
ment. Our divisive and corrupt bitter end. Despite the ob- arms!”
politics claimed Andres Boni- jection of his brother-in-law The men obedi-
facio as its first victim a long Teodoro Plata, all agreed to ently tore up their
time ago. fight to the last. cedulas, shouting
“Rebel leader orders the “That being the case,” “Long live the
execution of former comrade Bonifacio said, “bring out Philippines!”
after a dubious court hearing; your cedulas (Spanish tax This event
his wife’s rapist goes unpun- receipt that signified bond- marked the so-
ished - we aren’t talking about age) and tear them to pieces called “Cry of
the murderous split in the to symbolize our determi- Balintawak,” which actually happened in Pugadlawin.
Communist Party of the Philip-
pines. The execution of Andres
Bonifacio set the precedent to
our fratricidal revolutions.
“We today are cast from
yesterday’s moulds. As noted
in the book History of the Bur-
gis, the heroes of 1898 are the
archetypes of the modern Fili-
pino: Jose Rizal for the burgis
(westernized middleclass),
Emilio Aguinaldo for the po-
litico (traditional politician), and Andres Bonifacio for the tibak (hard-line activist).
“Brave, idealistic and oblivious to the politics of compromise, Bonifacio was a fire-
brand disposed by his own revolution, a leader who hardly ever won a battle and a dreamer
who never saw his nation free.
Remembering his death, “... it is hard staring his ghost in the eye. Any nationalist
would feel a part of him has let Bonifacio down.
“His life and death remind us Filipinos of our shame and feebleness as much as our
courage and nobility. His tragic fate echoes our nation’s plight. The chapter of Andres
Bonifacio, a chronicle of betrayal and hubris, stains any glossy retelling of our nation-
hood’s story. But we are destined to repeat history until we learn from it.”
The Cry of Balintawak
And history has opened its annals to Filipinos once more: In the afternoon of August
26 Manila Media Monitor MAY 2007

MARIA LOUISA L. DIAZ

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CIDA allots P40M more to MTF
DAVAO CITY - The Canadian Interna-
tional Development Agency (CIDA) would
put in P40 million more to Phase 1 of the
Mindanao Trust Fund (MTF).
Canadian Ambassador to Manila Pe-
ter Sutherland announced this in a press
conference following the April 26 signing
of MTF-Phase I between him, Philippine
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Jesus Dureza and World Bank (WB) Mind-
anao Coordinator Mary Judd.
Sutherland said Canada’s aid responsed
to Philippine government calls for contin-
ued support to peace and development ef-
forts in Mindanao while peace talks with
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
were on-going.
“Mindanao is a major focus for CIDA’s
program in the Philippines. Our emphasis
on governance, support to small business
and conflict-affected areas reflect the im-
portance we attach to the integral compo-
From the Monitor’s Desk ...
(From page 8)
world ten children.
***
The 29th CEMA (Canadian Ethnic Me-
dia Association) Gala Journalism Awards
Gala unfolds Friday, June 22 this year at the
Velma Rogers Theatre at 333 Bloor Street
East in downtown Toronto.
The CEMA (formerly the Canadian Eth-
nic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club) is an an-
nual recognition of journalists and writers
who excelled in six categories, namely, two
on print - one for best editorial and news;
two for television - one each for best edito-
rial and news; two for radio in each of news
and editorial, and on its second year, two in
the new media category - one each for best
editorial and news.
This year’s awards ceremony will again
be a two-hour live-to-tape event spectacular
for showing at a later date, both on OMNI 1
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MAY 2007 Manila Media Monitor 27
nents of the government’s strategy for peace
and development in Mindanao,” Sutherland
said.
Canada initially contributed P30 million
during the MTF launch in Cotabato City in
March 2006. Other bilateral donors includ-
ed Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden.
WB administers the two-phase MTF.
The first phase covered capacity build-
ing and implementation of reconstruction
and development projects in conflict-affect-
ed areas in the wake of the peace process.
The second phase intended to support
full-scale reconstruction programs once a
peace agreement has been signed.
The MTF has been providing resources
for capacity-building of the Bangsamoro
Development Agency (BDA), the MILF’s
development arm tasked with determining,
leading and managing relief, reconstruction
and development projects in conflict-af-
fected areas. PR
and OMNI 2 TV.
Ontario Premier Dalton Mc Guinty,
who has confirmed his attendance, will be
the opening speaker.
A rooftop patio reception will be held
after the awards gala.
For tickets at $40 ($35 advance), you
may order at (416) 285-8583.
This year’s winners have not been an-
nounced yet. From what I heard, the fight is
very tight in all categories.
I had the chance to be a juror for two
consecutive years (2002 and 2003) and we,
jurors, had to go through entries of around
200 in each category coming from across
Canada that year. For those who have sub-
mitted entries from various media outlets in
all categories, we wish you the best.
A CEMA Award is a very prestigious
award in ethnocultural journalism.
28 The Philippines Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007

Flowers of May
(Flores de Mayo)
In May all over the Philip-
pines, processions literally fill
streets to honor the Virgin Mary.
This is the Santa Cruz de Mayo.
Also known as the Santacru-
zan, the novena procession com-
memorates the mythical finding
of the Holy Cross by St. Helena,
mother of Constantine the Great.
Legends say that 300 years
after the death of Christ, then 75-
year old St. Helena went to Mt.
Calvary. After diggings, three
crosses were unearthed at the site
of the Crucifixion. She tested each
one by making a sick servant lie
on all three. The cross where the
servant recovered was identified
as Christ’s.
St. Helena’s feast day falls on
Aug. 8 but the anniversary of the
finding of the Cross is on May 3
and in the Philippines, the celebra-
tion took the form of the Mexican
Santa Cruz de Mayo.
Another legend puts it that
Sarah is free,
back home
Constantine the Great, facing a
battle against Roman Emperor
Maxentius in 312 A.D. turned
despairingly to the new Christian
God for help. Constantine cast his
eyes heavenwards and saw in the
night sky a glowing sign of the
cross with the words ‘In hoc sig-
nia vincit’ meaning ‘By this sign
thou shalt conquer.’ He adopted
the Cross as his battle insignia
with the words and went to van-
quish the Roman army and en-
tered Rome a victor, pledging his
faith in Christianity.
The Santacruzan differs from REINA ELENA AND HER CONSORT IN CONTEMPORARY SANTACRUZAN
most other religious processions clappers herald the procession led clad boys, bodies blackened with the days when one can enjoy the
in that it does not parade images of by the bearded Methuselah, bent soot, representing the Negritos dazzling splendor of the flowers
patron saints. Instead, biblical and with age, riding a cart where he or the Filipino pagans and finally of May and the smell of burning
historical characters are represent- toasts grains of sand in a pan over Reina Mora in a Muslim costume native candles.
ed by people dressed in appropri- a fire, to remind everyone that all representing Muslim Philippines. But the Santacruzan contin-
ate costumes. A nine-day prayer- that glitters will end up as dust. Today, the Santacruzan cross- ues to play an important role in
novena in honor of the Holy Cross Behind him walks the Banderada, es between a beauty pageant and the spiritual and religious life of
precedes the Santacruzan. a lady in red carrying a miniature a religious procession, with the Filipinos. It remains to be a com-
On the ninth night, the proces- Philippine flag, symbolizing the village’s most beautiful woman munity show in the spirit of baya-
sion is long and colorful. Bamboo Christian army. Next follow half- being chosen as Reina Elena. nihan (community cooperation).
Gone are the days when peo- And this May, for whatever
Provincial Roundup
ple, candle in hand, crowded the reason, people line up the streets
streets to pay homage to a Catho- in procession, invoking that which
lic myth and throw sampaguitas
at the passing beauties. Gone are
is holy and searching for the true
Christian spirit.
Taclobanon priest in Canada
TACLOBAN CITY - Former city resident Leo Ayaso Llames, 41,
was ordained into priesthood on May 13 in Canada. Llames joined
deacons Guiseppe Scollo, Jorge Lopez, Zachary Romanowsky, Jorge
New Cebu Church rules give
Aviles, Kelly Boyden, and Ivan Camilleri who were also blessed into
the priesthood in sacred rites at the Archdiocese of Toronto. Llames
entered the St. Augustine Seminary and Redemptoris Mater in Toronto,
wedding planners headaches
Canada in 1999. Before he left for Canada, Llames worked as an ar-
CEBU CITY – The new maids and should be above the
chitect. He was active with the neo-cathecuminate at the Our Lady of
guidelines on wedding cer- knee and without slits.
Lourdes Parish here and worked as an architect. Leo is the third child
emonies issued by the Archdio- Gown designs were also
of Jose Llames, former regional director of the Department of Agrarian
cese of Cebu might hamper the to be screened prior to the cer-
Reform, and Idona Ayaso. PNA
growth of a flourishing wedding emony.

Welcome back. Tears. Em-

brace. Maraming salamat po.
Thus was decribed the meet-
ing between President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and Filipino
migrant worker Sarah Dematera
in Malacañang on May 10.
Dematera, who returned to
Manila from Saudi Arabia on May
9, thanked the President for mak-
ing possible her freedom from ex-
ecution and 15 years of imprison-
ment in Saudi Arabia.
The President negotiated De-
matera’s release with the Saudi
Arabian King during her visit to
the oil-rich kingdom last year.
Now 35, the Antipolo native
was accused of murdering her
lady employer in 1992. Sarah said
in her defense that she had been
maltreated when she started work-
ing there at the age of 20.
“Welcome back, Sarah. Kali-
mutan mo na ang lahat. Ang im-
portante ay makapagsimula kang
muli dito sa ating bayan,” Arroyo
told Sarah after their embrace.
To help her get back on her
feet, the President awarded Sarah
a scholarship grant in cooperation
with the AMA Education System,
entitling her to enroll in any four-
year college course at any of the
AMA schools with a full waiver
on all fees. OPS
GMA opens Convergys in Cebu planning industry in Cebu.
Industry pioneer and wed-
CEBU CITY - ding stylist Teresing Mendezo-
President Gloria Ma- na said the “too many do’s and
capagal-Arroyo leads don’ts” in the nuptial guidelines
the unveiling of the would affect the income of wed-
marker of Convergy’s ding planners, as these lessen
second call center in the services they could offer
Cebu on May 9. With clients.
her are Cebu Governor The new guidelines, which
Gwen Garcia, Conver- took effect on Easter Sunday,
gy’s Vice President and would apply only to weddings
Country Manager Ma- celebrated in the parishes and
rife Zamora and EVP other institutions under the
for Global Customer Archdiocese of Cebu.
Care Operations Clint Besides the venue, the rules
Streit. OPS-NIB also covered wedding outfits and
the ceremony, among others.
Dry spell aids SC farmers However, local fashion de-
signers have accepted the guide-
KORONADAL CITY - The unusual dry period being experienced lines, saying these challenged
in South Cotabato has unexpectedly turned out to be more of an op- them to be more creative.
portunity than a loss for the province’s agricultural sector. Provincial ”You can always be creative
Agriculturist Reynaldo Legaste said the low rainfall level caused by a about it,” said Philip Rodriguez,
weak El Niño phenomenon and the regular summer season in the past a member of the Fashion Coun-
several months practically helped improve the fruiting of durian, ram- cil of Cebu (FCC).
butan, mango and other fruit crops. There were losses, however, on rice Arcy Gayatin, another FCC
and corn crops but these were negligible. PNA member, said it should still de-
Rice for Abra school kids pend on the couple.
”If the bride wants to show
BANGUED, Abra - This landlocked province had the biggest rice skin, then she can always take
allocation in the government’s Food-for-School Program (FSP) imple- off a shawl in a reception,” she
mented in the Cordillera region. Abra had the most number of malnour- said.
ished children in the Philippines, National Nutrition Council statistics Under the guidelines, dress-
showed. Reports said 856,785 kilos of rice were handed out to children es should be designed in a way
in 215 public elementary schools and 265 day care centers in 24 Abra that these cover the shoulders
towns. PNA and the back of the bride and her
Rodriguez said he agreed
with the church regulations be-
cause some people have been
“overdoing” wedding ceremo-
nies.
Minnie Yuvienco, another
FCC member, said the parents
of the couples and the couples
themselves should be responsi-
ble enough to regulate the wed-
ding.
But she did not find any need
for officiating priests to screen
the wedding dresses.
”There should be no need for
screening as long as the wedding
dresses are decent and won’t
show any cleavage. I don’t even
think that showing shoulders is
indecent,” she said.
Couples were also not al-
lowed to compose their own
vows or reword the vows pro-
vided for the Rite of Marriage,
as approved by the archdiocese.
Secular and popular music
were discouraged from being
played during the liturgy and
within the church building.
But Mendezona said the
Church should also consider the
couples to be wed, especially
the bride.
”A girl gets married only
once in a lifetime. This is her
only day, give it to her,” she
said. PNA
MAY 2007 Manila Media Monitor 29

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30
RP VOTES ...
(From page 1)
“We started at 5:34 a.m.
(May 14 Toronto time or
5:34 p.m. May 14 Manila
time), as soon as the Spe-
cial Ballot Reception and
Custody Group (SBRCG)
turned over the official bal-
lots it received at the close
of the polls at 3 a.m. (3 p.m.
Manila time),” SBEI chair
and Philippine Consul Gen-
eral in Toronto Alejandro
Mosquera said.
From dawn to late after-
noon, Commission on Elec-
tions (Comelec) deputized
SBEI members Mosquera,
secretary Orlando Manalo
The Philippines
and poll clerk Ethel Ang
appreciated the ballots and
made their tallies, in the
company of SBRCG chair
Vice Consul Edna Mae-
Lazaro and members Armi
Santos and Emma Man-
rique, other consular staff,
guests and kibitzers.
In a subsequent report to
Comelec commissioner Flo-
rentino Tuason Jr., SBRCG
chair and vice consul Laz-
aro said the SBEI appreci-
ated 410 valid ballots.
Lazaro noted the num-
ber of actual voters reached
450, but 34 of the ballots
were invalid and six others
were spoiled.
Twenty six of the invalid
ballots came in by mail on
the morning of May 14 To-
ronto time, too late for the
polls conducted overseas
from April 14 to May 14, all
in Manila time.
SBRCG member Santos
told the Manila Media Mon-
itor that 3,008 registered as
overseas absentee voters for
the May 14 polls.
The SBRCG received
the last valid ballot at about
2 a.m., the votes cast by
consul general Mosquera.
Overseas absentee votes
In Manila, the National
Board of Canvassers (NBC)
on May 17 has received and
tallied certificates of can-
vass (CoC) from diplomatic
posts in Switzerland, Fiji/
Cook Islands/New Zealand,
Australia, Vietnam, Bel-
gium, Romania/Bulgaria,
Indonesia, Mexico, Costa,
Guatemala, Panama, El
Salvador, Iran, China, Mon-
golia, France, Monaco, Por-
tugal, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Macau, Turkey, Cyprus, Ye-
men, Spain, and Morocco.
The day before, NBC
canvassed CoCs from Aus-
tria, Slovenia, the Czech
Republic, Poland, Hungary,
Palau, Laos, Papua New
Guinea with Solomon Is-
lands and Kiribati, Cambo-
Manila Media Monitor
dia and South Korea, Neth-
erlands, Japan, Nepal, India,
Thailand and Bahrain.
Scheduled for canvass-
ing on May 18 are CoCs
from Malaysia, Bangladeh,
Maldives, Sri Lanka, Libya,
Mali, Algeria, Chad, Malta,
Mauritania, and Tunisia.
The CoCs carried the
votes from ballots of about
20,000 overseas absentee
voters, who ranked Loren
Legarda as numerically
ahead in the senatorial race.
Repeat poll refrain
In Manila, police dep-
uty director Gen. Avelino
Razon Jr. said the national
polling “was generally
MAY 2007
peaceful,” but admitted the
police recorded at least 191
election-related violent in-
cidents that left 114 people,
to include poll bets, dead
and 132 others wounded
before and during the May
14 voting.
In Abra, on the eve of
poll day, two policemen,
two school teachers and a
poll volunteer were wound-
ed in an ambush in Sitio
Tamurong, Barangay Pulot.
They were with ballot boxes
and poll documents. The in-
cident occurred in the same
town a few days after an-
other ambuscade that killed
(Continued on page 31)
Manila Media Monitor MAY 2007
Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG) chair Vice Consul Edna Mae Lazaro, members
Armi Santos and Emma Manrique and consular staff Concepcion Gonzales witness the counting of
OAV votes at the Toronto Consul General’s Office. Manila Media Monitor Photo
RP VOTES ...
six supporters of Lagayan
Mayor Cecille Luna. The
attackers escaped. Comelec
had placed Abra under its
control due to its history of
election violence, further
aggravated by the killing
of Rep. Luis Bersamin last
year wherein the main sus-
pect was a top Abra politi-
cian.
In Masbate, two sup-
porters of Pio Cupos town
mayoralty bet Eleuterio
Castillo were killed at about
6 a.m., election day. An
hour after the twin gun-
slay, a brother of incumbent
Milagros town mayor Bing
Abapo was shot and killed.
In Basilan, Comelec has
declared the failure of elec-
tions in Akbar and Sumisip
towns, following violence,
said to be triggered by bitter
political rivalry, that killed
one person and wounded
six others. In Akbar, mayor-
alty bet Hajarun Jamiri lived
through a hail of bullets
when gunmen fired at his
party while he was casting
his vote in Barangay Semut
around 7:30 a.m. One of
Jamiri’s followers died af-
ter giving the former body
cover. Three others were
wounded. The gunmen es-
caped. In Sumisip, terrorists
burned down an elementary
school in Barangay Bakung
at about 2 a.m. Later, gun-
men staged an ambush that
saw the kin of a congres-
sional candidate and two
others wounded. Basilan-
based Marines also reported
gunbattles between political
groups in the villages of Ba-
sak, Buli-Buli and Bubuan
Island on election day.
Two homemade bombs
successively exploded at
the Dalican Pilot Elementa-
ry School to be used as poll-
ing precinct at about 6 a.m.
shortly before election pro-
ceedings began in Dalican,
Sharif Kabunsuan. No one
was hurt. Police said these
meant to scare away voters
but to no avail.
Comelec postponed
polling in Pagalungan,
Maguindanao; Pantar, La-
nao del Norte and Isabela,
Basilan as early as 10 a.m.
(From page 30)
In Pagalungan, ballot boxes
were snatched from poll
officers. Missing and mis-
printed ballots marred polls
in Pantar and Isabela.
Comelec also declared
poll failure in Barira, Ma-
guindanao and in Masiu,
Sultan Dumalundong, Lum-
ba Bayabao, Kapatagan,
Binidayan, Kapai, Bayang,
Butig, Tuburan and Lum-
batan towns, all in Lanao
del Sur, where teachers as-
signed poll duties refused to
go serve in hostile areas.
In Maitum, Sarangani,
gunmen on the eve of May
14 killed councilor Edwin
Ramos who was seeking
reelection. Ramos, 41, was
entertaining guests when
shot. The gunmen fled. The
incident happened a day
after reports broke out that
Maitum Mayor Felix Re-
ganit would be arrested for
allegedly masterminding
the killing of his predeces-
sor, George Yabes, who was
shot dead in December. Re-
ganit denied involvement.
In Escalante City, Ne-
gros Occidental, a vocal
political supporter was si-
lenced early May 14, shot
and killed as he was about
to enter his house in Baran-
gay Libertad early morning
of May 14. The night be-
fore, six persons, to include
the son of a mayoral bet,
emerged unscathed after
their vehicle was peppered
with bullets in an ambush
in Sitio Tiguisan, Barangay
Montilla.
San Miguel town may-
oralty bet Renato Herrera,
61, was abducted on the eve
of election day by six armed
men who also robbed him
of P6-million worth of jew-
elry and cash. Herrera was
on his way home when his
van was stopped in Malim-
pangpang, San Ildefonso,
Bulacan. Police patrolling
nearby Barangay Sto. Cris-
to found Herrera lying on
the ground, unconscious.
In Taysan, Batangas,
five persons said to be po-
licemen killed a teacher-
election supervisor and a
poll watcher and wounded
several others in an attack
31 FILIPINO VOTES IN TORONTO
(From page 1)
SOTTO, Vicente III 133
OSMEÑA, John Henry 132
COSETENG, Anna Dominique 130
HONASAN, Gregorio 120
TRILLANES, Antonio IV 89
MONTANO, Cesar 85
SINGSON, Luis 76
PICHAY, Prospero Jr. 68
ORETA, Teresa 67
GOMEZ, Richard 59
PAREDES, Zosimo Jesus II 47
BAUTISTA,Martin 35
CHAVEZ, Melchor 27
SISON, Adrian 27
CAYETANO, Joselito 26
WOOD, Victor 24
ESTRELLA, Antonio 20
KIRAM, Jamalul 17
ENCISO, Ruben 16
LOZANO, Oliver 16
CANTAL, Felix 14
ORPILLA, Eduardo 7
at 3 a.m. on May 15. The
suspects swooped down on
the polling center, poured
gasoline on the ballot boxes
and ignited a fire using their
M16 rifle. The school serv-
ing as polling precinct and
ballot boxes with poll para-
phernalia were burned. The
regional police said the five
might have links with a re-
electionist mayor.
Gunmen tried to cut
electric power by shoot-
ing at and exploding the
transformers of the Penin-
sula Electric Cooperative at
about 4:10 a.m. in Morong,
Bataan, but did not suc-
ceed to mar the elections as
the four-hour power outage
was fixed and generators
were placed on emergency
standby.
The Parish Pastoral
Reg. # 4533253
Council for Responsible
Voting in Manila reported
33 cases of poll fraud and
irregularities, 15 of which 919 Ellesmere Road
dealt with vote buying, mis- Suite 107, Scarborough
information, electioneering, Ontario M1P 2W7
presence of flying voters
and disenfranchisement of
voters. The council reported
the exclusion of hundreds
of names of registered vot-
ers in poll precinct lists in
the cities of Pasig, Pasay
and Antipolo. Irregular poll
practices were also noted in
the cities of Makati, Caloo-
can, Paranaque and Mala-
bon.
Comelec chairman
Benjamin Abalos said the
agency had been receiving MANILA - TORONTO - USA - EUROPE
hundreds of complaint calls OR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
from voters regarding de-
lays and other voting issues
as early as 6 a.m.
The May 14 polls
opened at 7 a.m. and closed
at 3 p.m. More than 17,000
positions, including at least
30 seats for party-list repre-
sentatives, were on the line.
In Iloilo, Jaro Archbish-
op Angel Lagdameo, presi-
“Super baba
dent of the Catholic Bishops and halaga ...
Conference of the Philip-
pines, said: “No matter how
Super below
imperfect or violated (the fare talaga.”
election process) may be,
democracy is not dead in “Handang Maglingkod Sa Ating Kababayan”
this country.” with Leilani
Medina and the Philip-
pines News Agency
Tel (416) 751-9588 Fax (416) 751-9133
Manila Media Monitor
32 MAY 2007 Money PESO STRENGTHENS VS $
The Philippine peso further strength-
ened against the US dollar, largely influ-

Canadian mining firm invests enced by sustained inflows as overseas

Filipino workers (OFWs) sent more remit-
tances in anticipation of school opening in

P9.37M in Eastern Samar June, the PNA reported.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. also attrib-
By Lilybeth G. Ison uted the stronger peso to the Philippines’
MANILA - The Department pore, the United States and Ger- intended to explore nickel laterite robust balance of payment position, which
of Environment and Natural Re- many. deposits in the areas concerned. as of last March was at P1.41 billion. TETANGCO
sources (DENR) has approved It specializes in developing He said the firm would build As of April 6, BSP-registered foreign
portfolio investment inflow was at US$3.771 billion while outflow
the exploration permit of the technologies for extraction, sepa- its own supply of electricity for
was at US$2.805 billion, for a net inflow of US$966.66 million.
Chemical Vapour Metal Refining ration, refining and forming met- use during its operation, and a
Meanwhile, BSP has received deposits from government agen-
(CVMR) Resources (Philippines) als based on its proprietary vapor deep-sea facility for ship loading
cies and BSP-registered trust deposit after the three new measures
Inc. to conduct two-year mineral metallurgy processes. and unloading purposes.
introduced to mop up excess liquidity took effect on May 10.
exploration activities in Samar is- Kamram Khozan, CVMR Khozan expected that a nickel
lands. chief executive officer, said the laterite resource base would even-
DENR Secretary Angelo
Reyes said CVMR has complied
firm is mandated to acquire, ex-
plore, develop nickle/cobalt later-
tually be delineated, which would
be sufficiently large to support
GOT A SWEET FOREX DEAL?
with all the requirements, to in- ite mineral properties in the Asia a viable commercial operation, Check out if you got your peso’s worth for the dollars you have
clude environmental, financial, Pacific region. producing at least 30,000 tons of had exchanged since April 16, courtesy of Manila Media (Mon-
technical, legal and social accept- In the Philippines, he said the nickel products per annum. ey) Monitor.
ability. firm has a total of 28 government- Given a chance to expand US$ Cdn$
Covered by the exploration approved exploration permits cov- exploration to 30,000 hectares, May 11 47.28551 42.46352
permit was a 3,757.014-hectare ering some 89,828 hectares. CVMR could produce some May 10 47.20167 42.62575
contiguous area in the towns of An exploration permit is an 60,000 to 100,000 tons of nickel. May 08 47.35732 42.86227
Balangiga, Giporlos and Quipon- initial mode of entry in mineral Khozan said the project would May 07 47.37652 42.97369
dan, all in Eastern Samar. exploration allowing a qualified provide direct employment to at May 04 47.54944 42.95536
Reyes said the area has been person to undertake mineral re- least 1,500 persons and hundreds May 03 47.71849 43.10415
ascertained as outside of DENR sources exploration in areas open more of support personnel, and May 02 47.48400 42.82587
forest projects and the protected to mining. would also contribute to a robust May 01 47.49328 42.82741
Samar Island Natural Park. Khozan said the P9.37-million economic activity in the area. April 30 47.48016 42.90061
CVMR is a multinational cor- Eastern Samar project involved “The project will also contrib- April 27 47.52248 42.60703
poration based in Toronto, Canada geological mapping, auger sam- ute to the advancement of the Phil- April 26 47.44911 42.35552
with subsidiaries in China, Singa- pling and geochemical surveys ippines’ dynamic mining industry April 25 47.54999 42.66199
by establishing a world class fully April 24 47.72494 42.49889
integrated processing and refining April 23 47.49438 42.30111
BUSINESS BUZZ operation in the country,” he said.
Khozan assured that their ex-
April 20
April 19
47.59516
47.60226
42.39099
42.17613
ploration would be environment- April 18 47.69218 42.24832
MBMI Palawan nickel project a go friendly as the company uses state- April 17 47.91999 42.42663
The Philippine subsidiary of Vancouver-based MBMI Resources of-the-art technologies. PNA April 16 47.92591 42.37219
Inc. has been granted all requisite mining, and environmental permits
to commence development and mining on the Alpha nickel property in
Narra, Palawan, Philippines. Substantial progress has been made toward
completing all infrastructure required to develop this project, including
UP economist gets American U award
processing, stockpiling area, the office complex, assay laboratory fa- Filipino academician Hazel Jean
cilities and shipping facilities. Shipments of nickel should commence Lim-Malapit receives the Simon
prior to the end of the second quarter of 2007. MBMI focuses on the Naidel Certificate of Recognition
exploration and development of mineral properties in the Philippines for Outstanding Work in Eco-
and Canada. nomic Theory from Prof. John
Willoughby, chairman of Wash-
Ivanhoe Mines vows $4.45M infusion ington’s American University’s
Ivanhoe Philippines Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vancouver- Department of Economics on
based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., has entered into a joint venture with Omico May 2. Malapit, selected for the
Corp. of the Philippines. The partnership, to which Ivanhoe will commit award for consistently topping
US$5.45 million, will explore for gold in Omico’s Macawiwili property the comprehensive examina-
in northern Philippines. tions on Economic Theory, will
be completing her Ph.D. Doctor-
TFCko makes way into Canada ate in Economics. She earned
ABS-CBN Global, the North American-based subsidiary of ABS- her MA in economics from the
CBN Broadcasting, has launched TFCko, a service platform using Inter- University of the Philippines-
net Protocol Television, to deliver the high-quality streaming of shows Diliman in 2001, under scholar-
from ABS-CBN and The Filipino Channel 24-7 to Filipino homes in ships from the Sanwa Bank and the Bank of Tokyo. A former World Bank consultant, Hazel
Canada. Subscribers could access over 10,000 hours of Filipino TV pro- had internship at the United Nations Headquarters in 2002. She is a member of the Manage-
gramming, a press release said. ment Collective of Action for Economics Reform, a non-government organization.
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007
PCCT trade mission closes $12.5M in Manila, Cebu SME deals
An 11-man trade mission to
the Philippines from March 11 to
17 has generated $12.5 million in
business closings, without letting
up on notching future multi-mil-
lion dollar deals .
The Philippine Chamber of
Commerce-Toronto (PCCT) un-
der president Rafael Nebres facil-
itated the mission, the chamber’s
second in two years.
PCCT immediate past presi-
dent and trade and industries’
initiatives committee chair Cora
dela Cruz reported that at least 12
memoranda of agreement and un-
derstanding were signed by mis-
sion delegates with their Philip-
pine counterparts.
More Canadians file taxes thru e-means
OTTAWA - Some 8.3 mil-
lion people have filed their 2006
income tax returns as of April 1,
according to the Canada Rev-
enue Agency (CRA).
Of the returns, 62.4 percent
were filed electronically, a little
bit more than the 61.2 percent a
year ago.
The CRA said there has been
greater interest and enthusiasm
among Canadians in the use of
electronic taxpaying services,
Dela Cruz said most of the
deals were in small and medium
enterprises (SME).
The deals “will be potentially
higher, pending finalization of de-
tails on some of the agreements
reached,” she said.
The mission, which spent time
in the Philippine capital of Manila
and the premier southern city of
Cebu, was also able to expand its
network of business references in
various trading areas.
Of note was the mission’s at-
tendance to the National Trade
Fair at the SM Mega Mall in
Mandaluyong City, where SME
exhibitors from the country’s 16
regions displayed their products
a reason to improve its state-of-
the-art suite of electronic services
and provide a wider range of elec-
tronic filing options.
Of some 25.8 million Canadi-
ans who file an income tax return,
more and more have discovered
that electronic filing was the fast-
est and easiest way to prepare and
file returns.
There were fewer errors and
individuals got their tax refunds in
eight business days, or less, with
Money
CORA DELA CRUZ
under the theme One-Town One-
Product Program.
Earlier, mission members had
direct deposit.
In addition to filing a return
over the Internet using NET-
FILE, Canadians could file over
the telephone using TELEFILE,
or they could file using EFILE
through the services of a profes-
sional tax preparer.
To file their income tax
return using NETFILE, in-
dividuals would need to use
CRA-certified software or Web
applications. CRA News
briefings with officials of the De-
partment of Trade and Industry
and the Bureau of Exports and
Trade Promotions and pre-ar-
ranged individual business meet-
ings and site visits in Manila.
Dela Cruz said mission mem-
bers also graced the opening of
the PCCT Gawad Kalinga (GK)
Village in Sucat, Parañaque, high-
lighting their visit with the hand-
ing of keys to the housing project
beneficiaries.
In Cebu, Dela Cruz, represent-
ing PCCT, inked a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with the
Cebu Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, represented by its presi-
dent Francis Monera.
Signing witnesses were Robert
Lee, Honorary Consul Designate
of Canada; Jose Ng of the Phil-
ippine-Canada Business Council
and Henry Sia, PCCT vice presi-
dent.
“The MOU set out ways to en-
hance bilateral economic relations
by providing a forum for business
professionals of Canada and of the
cities and Province of Cebu,” dela
Cruz said.
Following the signing, par-
ticipants met with Cebu chamber
members for meetings and site
visits
Sia, president of Asian Cana-
dian Trading and Golden Valley
33
Food Outlet, said: “Attending the
National Trade Fair provided me
with new and exciting marketing
opportunities that I could not have
developed on my own.”
“I gained wider exposure and
established key contacts in my tar-
get market. This will enable me
to make informed decisions upon
which I can build my expansion
and marketing plans,” Sia added.
For her part, Evelyn Pagka-
linawan, president of 3d+e Mar-
keting, said: “I believe strongly
in the effort placed on business
matching.”
“This contributed greatly to
the success of the trade mission
for me and it was very important
I made sure I submitted my com-
pany profile ahead of time, so that
a proper business match can be
made,” Pagkalinawan said.
Dela Cruz said the Philippine
Consulate General in Toronto,
Philippine Embassy in Ottawa,
Philippine Trade and Investment
Center in Chicago, Philippine De-
partment of Tourism-New York,
Department of Trade and Industry,
Bureau of Exports and Trade Pro-
motion, Bureau of Investments in
Manila and Cebu, Cebu Chamber
of Commerce, Canadian Embas-
sy, Philippine-Canada Business
Council provided excellent pro-
grams for the mission members.
34 Manila Media Monitor MAY 2007
Foster Child to premier in
Pinoy
Cannes Directors Fortnight
SHOW Brillante Mendoza’s Insiang (1976) and Bona

BIZ
Foster Child will soon be (1979); Mike de Leon’s
written in the pages of Phil- Kisapmata (1981) and
ippine filmdom’s illustrious Batch 81 (1982); and Mario
history as the sixth Filipino O’Hara’s Babae sa Break-
film to grace the Cannes water (2004).

Ruffa, Yilmaz part ways Film Festival prestigious

Ruffa Gutierrez and her
Turkish husband Yilmaz
Bektas have parted ways.
In a joint statement re-
leased to the press on May
8, the couple said:
“It is with much regret
that Ruffa Gutierrez and
Yilmaz Bektas announce
their mutual decision to end
their four years of marriage.
“Earnest and sincere ef-
forts at saving their marriage
have failed.
“It is to the best inter-
est of Ruffa and Yilmaz, RUFFA and LORIN
their children and respective
families that such a decision
be done in accordance with
applicable laws in the most
cordial, amicable and pri-
vate way possible for the
benefit of all concerned.
“Ruffa and Yilmaz will
remain committed parents
and continue to be friends
as they live their separate
lives.
“They ask for everyone’s
understanding and consider-
ation in respecting the fami-
ly’s privacy during this most
difficult time.”
Ruffa and Yilmaz were
married on March 25, 2003.
“All issues and formali- They have two children,
Directors Fortnight.
On May 17, Foster Child
will have its world premier
in Cannes, where the inter-
national filmfest will reel
off from May 17 to 27.
Foster Child, produced
by Seiko’s Robbie Tan, stars
Cherry Pie Picache, Eugene
Domingo, Jiro Manio and
Dan Alvaro.
Seiko has prepared the
flick’s print with French
subtitles.
Expected to attend the
premier are producer Tan,
director Mendoza and lead
actress Picache.
After Masahista that
won awards at Locarno and
Brisbane, Kaleldo that was
Brocka’s Jaguar and
Kapit sa Patalim were in
competition while Orapro-
nobis was in the official se-
lection, also in Cannes.
Orapronobis could have
been the festival’s closing
film, except that it dealt on
CHERRY PIE PICACHE salvaging during the era of
former Philippine president
shown in Rome, Binenale Corazon Aquino.
and Hawaii, and Manoro, The Philippines got a
winner for the best film, big haul in Cannes in May
CinemAvvenire in Torino 2005. Four Filipino films
last year, Foster Child is were shown in Cannes Cin-
one of the few Filipino ema of the World section.
movies to make it to world The four were Olivia
film festivals. Lamazan’s Milan, Chito
Filipino films that Roño’s Dekada ‘80, Mar-
have been shown at the ilou Diaz Abaya’s Bagong
Cannes Directors Fortnight Buwan and Cesar Monta-
included Lino Brocka’s no’s Panaghoy sa Suba.

Papa Piolo’s career diving?

to severe marital ties had to ties concerning the dissolu- Lorin, three years old, and
be made. tion of the marriage shall Venice, two.

Poster It must be the biggest

contemporary entertain-
Girl ment treat of all: that Piolo
Pascual-Judy Ann Santos
team-up. Movie and televi-
sion critics still talk about
how Papa Piolo and Juday
smashed box offices and hit
high boob tube ratings.
But that may as well be
a thing of the past. Without
Juday, who can stand on her
own, Piolo’s magic seems
to be waning fast.
Piolo’s handlers, film
and television producers
and those who still believe
in his bankable image and
PIOLO & ANGELICA PANGANIBAN
appeal have tried a lot to get
Papa back to Cloud 9; but to
little or no avail at all.
Piolo and Angelica
Panganiban? Bea Alonzo?
Lately, Claudine Barreto
and Jodi Sta. Maria? These,
however, are not working.
Further, Piolo’s recent
scripts look like copycats of
his previous dialogues and
scenes with Juday, trying
to capture the subliminal
consciousness of fans who,
sadly, are still not ready to
let go of the down-to-earth
nearly-perfect Piolo-Juday
reel partnership. PIOLO & BEA ALONZO

‘Sexbomb’ Jopay back to HS

Former Sexbomb Girls mainstay Jopay Pagu-
ia has been making the right decisions lately, to
boost a rising entertainment career and rekindle
brighter plans for her future.
While maintaining her regular television
sitcom appearances, Jopay has opted to get aca-
demically equipped and finish her high school.
Jopay said she would return to school this
June. She would find time for her studies, con-
sidering the bulk of showbiz work she has to at-
tend to.

Anne Curtis
“Bagama’t may edad na ako para mag-aral
sa high school, gagawin ko ito, alang-alang sa
kinabukasan,” she said.
Jopay should be in 4th year high, but she
wanted to restart in 1st year. “Nakalimutan ko na
yata ang napag-aralan ko nuon,” she said.
 Manila Media Monitor MAY 2007 35
NOTABLE FILIPINOS in
Arts & Entertainment

Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel

SAN CARLOS CITY,
Pangasinan - A Filipina
from this city is making
waves as a songwriter,
singer and head of a famous
country rock band under her
name - the Anna Fermin’s
Trigger Gospel - in Chica-
go, USA. In fact, the band
bearing the name of the San
Carlos lass was described
by Greg Kof, a columnist
of the Chicago Tribune,
as “one of Chicago’s most
treasured voices.”
Fermin was only a year
old when her parents Re-
nato and Nida Peralta-Fer-
min immigrated to the U.S.
Her family settled in
America’s dairy land at
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Although she studied
classical piano and violin
and performed in choirs
throughout her childhood
and adolescence, it was not
after her graduation from
the Art Institute of Chicago
in 1993 that she wrote her
first song.
She set aside her profes-
sion as a graphic designer
and embarked on a career
closest to her heart - singing
and songwriting.
Fermin names Patsy
Cline, Nancy Wilson and
Nina Simone - among many
of the music world’s big
names - who have influ-
enced her music and sing-
ing style.
But she admits father,
Renato, must have had the
strongest influence on her.
She recalls how her
father, a self-proclaimed
Filipino Elvis, used to em-
barrass her as he sang songs
on his karaoke at parties.
Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel
But she admits that it was
this early exposure to his
father’s songs that instilled
in her a love for music.
Having taught herself
how to play the guitar, us-
ing a borrowed classical
guitar from her “tita” (aunt),
Fermin started attending lo-
cal open mikes. There, she
impressed other musicians,
including her long-time
drummer Paul Bivans, who,
among others, encouraged
her to form her first band
“Anaboy”.
That was the beginning
of what has emerged today
as “Anna Fermin’s Trigger
Gospel”. The other mem-
bers of the band include
Scott Ligon on electric gui-
tar and keyboards, Bivans
on drums, and Michael
Krayniak on bass. They
become the perfect comple-
ment to Fermin’s stunning
voice.
With her band’s diverse
influences and varied expe-
riences, Fermin’s music has
taken on its own distinctive
style. The band, incidental-
ly, was named after an old
Western novel.
Formed in 1997, “Anna
Fermin’s Trigger Gospel”
has garnered the attention
and respect of critics and
music fans alike, hooking
audiences with their eclec-
tic songs and rousing live
shows.
Their latest release as
of October 31, 2006 were
“Where My Heart Be-
gins”, “Further Along”,
“Softly”, “Romance, “That
Kind of Love”, “I Know
You”, “Heaven in My New
Shoes”, and “Yellow Rose
of Texas”.
Rob Thomas of the
Capital Times and of Wis-
consn State Journal, wrote:
“This Chicago country-rock
band evokes the emotions
and honesty of classic coun-
try while keeping its sounds
fresh and original. And Fer-
min’s voice is just phenom-
enal”. PNA Features

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Simply Manila Media Monitor: Where your AD stands out!
KCCC Open House: Welcome, come in!
(From page 6)
Arts & Entertainment
art sale, silent auction and Pacific” at the Living Arts 36 Manila Media Monitor MAY 2007
white elephant sale. Centre in 2000 when he was
Also at 10 a.m. until 2 a KCCC boardmember.
p.m., a free power talk on
Self- Empowerment will
be given by Greg Forbes.
Then came “Music of
the Masters,” shown twice
before in different formats.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Chiqui-Kat Pineda Azimi
will follow with an inspira-
Solon has helped the
community by sharing his
10 am – 6 pm
tional sharing. musical and KCCC is one

The Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre

From 3 to 6 p.m., a
painting competition for
children and the youth will
be conducted. Winners will
receive prizes and winning
drawings will be included in
the 2008 KCCC calendar.
A discoral/disco sa Bay-
an will be held at the grand
hall at 7 p.m..
Culminating activities
on June 3rd start at 1 p.m.
The renovated area will be
blest by Father Sol Paranas,
Pastor of the Sts. Peter and
Paul Parish in Mississauga.
A ribbon-cutting cere-
mony and a program show-
casing the activities offered
in the centre will follow.
Highlight of the week-
long open house is “Music
of the Masters - Favorites,”
PACE breaks water with Making Waves ...
(From page 4)
the Golden Valley Banquet
Hall.
A calendar of events
HFC has released for its
World Routes 2007 free-ad-
mission summer multicul-
tural events included: Can-
ada Day: Generations (June
29-July 2), Beats, Breaks &
Culture (July 6-8), World
Rhythms (July 13-15), Dim
Sum Chinese Festival (July
20-22), Global Hip Hop: 4
Elements,(July 27-29), Is-
land Soul (Aug. 3-6), Hot &
Spicy Food Festival (Aug.
10-12), Filipinos Making
Waves (Aug. 17-19), Taiwan
Ilha Formosa (Aug. 24-26),
and Ukranian Zabava (Aug.
31-Sept. 3).
World Routes is a se-
ries of cultural festivals
that happens only once ev-
ery two years. Invited are
groups that can put together
world-class arts activities to
celebrate diversity and fos-
ter appreciation among dif-
ferent communities in the
Greater Toronto Area.
SOLON REYES
a fund-raising concert and
dinner-dance featuring pia-
nist-composer Solon Reyes
with guest tenor Leander
Mendoza. Dinner will be at
7 p.m., concert at 8:30 p.m.
Noted pianist
Solon’s repertoire will
consist of favorite classical
music selections.
The concert is Solon’s
third performance for the
benefit of KCCC.
The first one was ex-
cerpts of his musical drama
composition “Across the
time would reduce expected
big attendance in any one
festival, “thereby affecting
their financial viability” and
would be bad for exhibitors,
sponsors and the public.
“What is worse is that
our community is the big-
gest loser,” Enverga’s e-mail
quoting the letter said.
Cooperation bid rejected
In the PACE press con-
ference, officials said HFC
put forward proposals try-
ing to work out cooperation
between PACE and PIDC
to maximize the benefits of
MWF and Mabuhay!.
PIDC rejected the pro-
posals that included joint
marketing, advertising and
promotion strategies; bus
shuttles to and fro festival
sites; and talks on current
and future collaboration.
In the same e-mail quot-
ing part of PIDC’s letter to
HFC, it was written: “We
believe that your proposals
do not address the issue of
of the beneficiaries.
Solon has taught piano
and theory at the Royal Con-
servatory of Music since
1971. As adjudicator of mu-
sic festivals and as Senior
5225 Orbitor Drive, Suite 3
Examiner, he has traveled Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4Y8
extensively across Canada,
evaluating examinees in all (905) 602-0923
performance levels.
He took music studies
in the University of Santo
Tomas as a full scholar and
protégé of Marietta Baja.
He also graduated with a
Art Show by The Philippine Artist Group
Bachelor of Science degree
from the University of the
Philippines.
In Canada, he studied
Free Admission Empowerment Sessions
with Reginald Godden at
the Royal Conservatory of
Music where he obtained
his ARCT in Performance.
Business Promo Painting Contest
division in the community
Silent Auction Disco ng Bayan
as there will still be two
competing Festivals with
same theme and format on
Raffle Prizes Bake Sale
the same dates.”
Only Mabuhay!
The PIDC letter said:
“The only solution, there- Receive 1 Free Raffle Ticket
fore, is for only one Philip-
pine Festival to be held on With this Coupon
the weekend of August 18
and 19, 2007. And we are 1 per person $2.00 Value
respectfully requesting that
Harbourfront Centre defer
its plans for a Philippine for Filipinos, not only in chairman - has agreed to
Festival to next year, which Toronto but around the guest host MWF in tandem
we will help coordinate if world” was PACE’s “prime with other invited media
you wish or to another date philosophy and mandate” personalities.
that will not materially con- in carrying out MWF’s She said MWF would
flict with our Festival.” premier. feature Filipino entertainers
“We believe that we Datol’s press release and artistic talents from
have the priority and moral quoted Torralba as saying the Philippines, the United
grounds on the matter be- people would be “very States and Canada.
cause we have been holding pleased to see who’s coming In a slide presentation,
EDU MANZANO
the Festival every year for to the Festival.” Torralba outlined the
the past seven years,” the Ramon Datol said MWF “is Torralba said Edu central events and related
letter also stated. a go!” Manzano - actor, The activities making up
Tsunami of a show In a press release, Datol Weakest Link Philippine the festival that would
Meanwhile, PACE said “making news, making edition game show host illustrate the harmonious
media relations pointman friends, making business and Optical Media Board mix of contemporary and
traditional Filipino arts and

“It is our pride to be
recognized and our high
honor to be invited to be
part of the World Routes
2007 programming,” said
Torralba.
Simul losers
However, the direct col-
lision in festival dates was
just the “tip of the iceberg.”
The bone of mutual
contention was what Mabu-
hay! and MWF (PIDC and
PACE) stood to lose -- di-
vided attendance resulting
in reduced revenues -- if the
two festivals went on simul-
taneously.
PIDC president Tobias
Enverga Jr., in an undated
letter to HFC part of which
was e-mailed to the Manila
Media Monitor on April 28,
inferred that having Mabu-
hay! and MWF at the same
LUMINATO
From June 1 to 10, a unique and culture.
stunning festival of arts and creativity MWF’s Toronto debut
titled Luminato will take to the streets would focus on eight central
events, namely the Outdoor
of Toronto, with its continuity into future
Showcase (Palabas), Indoor
years guaranteed.
Concerts (Handog ng Lahi),
Luminato is expected to rank with Marketplace (Pamilihan),
other Canadian artistic attractions like Drama stage (Tanghalan),
the Stratford Festival, the Toronto Inter- Fluvial Regatta and
natioal Film Festival, the Canadian Op- Boardwalk Parade (Karakol
era Company and the National Ballet. at Parada sa Tabing Dagat),
It aspires to bring to the GTA a pres- Silver Screen (Pinilakang
tigious showcase of international artis- Tabing), Images (Larawan
tic merit (right photo) of the following ng Sining), and Dialogue:
ethnicities: South African, Asian, Polish, Community Symposium
German, Turkish, Armenian, Italian, (Pulong Bayan).
Portuguese, Spanish/Latin/Mexican, Torralba said MWF would
East Indian and Caribbean. “draw the eyes and ears of
Many of the events, which will give mainstream Canadians and
further validity to Canada’s multicultural members of Canada’s diverse
identity, are free to the public; others at communities to appreciate
a reasonable performance cost. their multi-talented and
Visit www.luminato.com for more in- equally culturally-diverse
formation. Beth Sulman neighbors with roots from
the Philippines.”
Miss Philippines and Miss Junior Philippines winners
Arts & Entertainment
MAY 2007 Manila Media Monitor 37

PIDC’S crowning glory:

Miss Philippines & Miss Jr. Philippines
The Philippine Indepen- 500 people witnessed this Tourism Cheryl Chan.
dence Day Council (PIDC) crowning glory. Also crowned were Miss
has once more proven its Proclaimed Miss Phil- Junior Philippines 2007,
Little Miss commitment in showcasing
Filipino culture and heritage
ippines 2007 and Best in
Terno was Alyssa Ashley
Miss Popularity and Best
in Talent Khriscelle Nano-
Philippines- by bringing together the
youth to participate in com-
Zamora.
Her entourage consisted
la; 1st Runner-Up Ceara
Khoramshahi; Miss Tour-
PIDC ‘07 munity events, particularly
the PIDC’s Miss Philip-
of 1st Runner-Up, Miss
Charity, Miss Popularity
ism and Best in Evening
Gown Alexa Bella; Miss
(Left photo) Little Miss pines and Miss Junior Phil- and Best in Talent Khristine Tourism and Miss Char-
Philippines-PIDC ‘07 ippines 2007 pageant at the Mai Atienza; Miss Tourism ity Jaqueline Munoz; and
Jasmine Camille Gool- Metropol Banquet Hall & and Best in Terno Diane Miss Tourism Kristine Lou
jar (center), Mia Mahi- Theatre on May 6. Watson; Miss Tourism and Gargaritano.
nay (left) and Camille PIDC’s Suzy Llanera, Best in Evening Gown Ap- Miss Philippines win-
Montes, 1st and 2nd in a press release, said over ple Joy dela Cruz; and Miss ners would be Ambassadors
runners-up respective- of Goodwill to all PIDC ac-
ly, get cash and scholar- tivities, highlighted by the
ships and will represent Mabuhay! Festival.
PIDC in its events, in- In the same night, PIDC
cluding Mabuhay Festi- proclaimed Toven Bella,
val’s SantaCruzan at the Kirsten Isabelle Binaday,
Metro Convention Cen- Ayden Buenaventura, Ni-
tre, Aug. 18. Gooljar and cole Cairnduff, Rod-Ann
entourage (photo be- Francisco, Cassandra Good-
low) were crowned dur- goll, Fatima Tayag and Trin-
ing the pageant night, ity Santiago as its Little Am-
managed by a commit- bassadors of Goodwill.
tee chaired by Rosemer The five-year old below
Enverga, at the Korean infants were also named this
Cultural Centre on April year’s PIDC Philippine Star
28. PIDC PHOTO Babies.

MEDIA SPONSORS

MEDIA SPONSOR
Lampitoc’s Faces, Phases and Places art show on
view at RP Toronto Consulate hall until May 29
The Philippine Consul-
ate General in Toronto con-
tinues to play host to Filipi-
no-Canadian artist Rocille
Lampitoc whose art show
Faces, Phases and Places is
on exhibit at the consulate’s
reception hall until May 25.
Lampitoc’s one-woman
show opened on May 4.
Art writer Frank Bushe
describes Lampitoc’s Faces,
Phases and Places art col-
lection as a “tribute to Can-
ada’s multiculturalism. “
Bushe says Lampitoc’s
work “celebrates the multi-
faces, multi-culture and
multi-phases of life in Cana-
da, in retrospect of the world
she lives in. It is a theme
that she wishes to document
in art to celebrate Canada’s
multiculturalism.”
“Rocille Lampitoc is
one of the new generation
of world artists who call
Toronto home” and “much
of her work brings to mind
far away lands washed with
suncolor - a legacy, perhaps,
of her Philippine heritage.
But for all of their exotic el-
ements, Rocille’s paintings
are very much of the here
and now. They capture and
express the multi-hued tex-
ture of life as she encounters
it daily. She sees the global
in the local; she reveals the
universal in the concrete re-
ality of our city today.”
Lampitoc completed her
course in Fashion Design
at the Sheridan College in
1985 and earlier spent a
year of fashion studies at
Long Beach City College in
1981.
She also did an illustra-
tion class at Ontario College
of Art and Life Drawing at
Central Technical School in
2006.
Before she left the Phil-
ippines in 1972, she had
been “life drawing” with
the likes of Ocampo, Roces,
Joya and others along with
her father Rod Lampitoc.
This convergence of
artists was known as the
original “Saturday Group”
that made the impact in the
Philippine art scene.
Her background mix of
art and fashion influented
Lampitoc’s art show theme
of Faces, Phases and Places
and her collection has been
used to display and give
honor to newcomers.
Scarborough’s City
Council and the City of
Scarborough Recreation,
Parks and Culture Depart-
ment sponsored her first
solo show in 1997. To date,
she has launched and par-
ticipated in 22 shows. PR
Arts & Entertainment
Manila Media Monitor
MAY 2007
Newmarket’s Magnificat mounts
‘One Heart, One Mind’ on June 9
The Magnificat Char-
ismatic Community in
Newmarket will mount the
major musical production,
One Heart, One Mind at the
Imperial Oil Auditorium of
the Ontario Science Centre
on June 9 at 7:30 p.m.
The four-part variety
show will showcase the tal-
ents of the Magnificat Choir
and the Magnificat Youth.
Artists from the Filipino
community include Lilac
Caña and Mark Balleste-
ros, two long-time audience
favorites who have made
their name as outstanding
concert performers and re-
cording artists.
Ami Hernaez, hailed as
an up-and-coming singing
star, is expected to enthrall
a growing fan base.
Magnificat presiding
BACK-TO-BACK. Canadian Idol finalist Mikey
Bustos and special guest American Idol finalist
Jasmine Trias headline The Inspiration Concert at
the Chinese Cultural Centre on June 15. PR
MORE EXPOSURE, LESSER COSTS
GRAB THIS DEAL, CALL 416-285-8583.
Simply Manila Media Monitor: Where your AD stands out!
LAMPITOC’S SINGKIL
leaders Joe and Annie Lapid
say the event is a a labor of
love and the community has
put much time and effort
preparing for the concert.
Concert aims include
reaching out to Filipinos and
non-Filipinos with a spring
extravaganza of music and
entertainment, and to help
raise funds to improve and
expand the Oratory of Je-
sus, King of Mercy, which
was built in 2003 in the
compound of the Regina
Mundi Retreat Centre.
The Oratory of Jesus is
fast becoming an attraction
to groups and individuals
who come to the sprawling
grounds of Regina Mundi
to pray the special prayers
to the Divine Mercy and
celebrate the annual Feast
of the Divine Mercy during
for your advertising?
38
the Easter season.
Annie Lapid adds: “We
are proud of the Oratory the
way it is now, but we would
like to ensure that we con-
tinue to meet the growing
needs of devotees who come
to the Oratory by improving
the current structure.”
The variety special fea-
tures classics, Broadway
and pop music, an expo-
sition of Filipino culture,
and inspirational songs. A
fellowship follows the pro-
gram. PR
Ever written a
Pinoy haiku?
Show it, join in.
Hay! Haiku, naku!
Gubat ay kinakalbo!
Patay! ‘Nangkupu!
The Philippine Consul-
ate General in Toronto and
the Embassy of Japan in
the Philippines is inviting
Filipinos poets and writers
to participate in the 2007
Haiku Contest themed Pi-
noy Haiku, Mga Taludtud
Alay kay Inang Kalikasan
(Stanzas Offered to Mother
Nature).
Haiku is a form of po-
etry that developed in Japan
about 400 years ago. It is a
short verse of 17 syllables,
divided into units of five,
seven and five syllables.
The deadline for sub-
mission of entries is on June
29. Entry forms and more
details may be download-
ed at www.ph.emb-japan.
go.jp. Leilani Medina
MAY 2007 Manila Media Monitor 39