Death as An Excuse for Vitriol by a 'Churnalist'

Volume 1, Issue No. 11

OPINION/COMMENTARY

 

 The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Wednesday, November 29, 2017 

~ The left-leaning tabloid was at it again. Now, as in the recent past, it disrespects the dead to further its obsession. Its latest offensive was authored by a Vancouver-based surrogate, a "churnalist" most notable for his fake news and a lack of fundamental understanding of the issues. He turns the rag into a pulpit with the full cooperation of its publisher, and his obituary for a late member of the Senate, into a propaganda piece that demeans the deceased.

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HABITUAL MISCREANT

Death as An Excuse for Vitriol by a 'Churnalist'

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee". - John Donne

TORONTO - Whatever he was in life, Tobias Enverga Jr. deserves respect in death.

His demise at age 61 may not be as painful to us as it is to his family, but that is not an excuse to spit out thoughtless remarks at this time (of writing) when the grieving is in its midst. (Enverga was interred yesterday, Monday, Nov. 27).

Though our dispute is well-known in and out of the Filipino community, I've not capitalized on it to continue to wage this battle for accountability that was at the root of all these. I take pause and reflect.

Enverga was a member of the Senate for five years and two months, or from September 6, 2012, to his death in Medellin, Colombia on November 16, 2017. The circumstance behind his passing has not been fully explained, except for the generic "heart attack" stated in a press release. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipnCpjAp_V0).

As a journalist, I had reasons to be adversarial, knowing he was holding a position of public trust that represented a constituency in Ontario province of which I am one. Holding his feet to the fire was my duty.

But it does not mean that I would disrespect him in death, or his family in their grieving. I've maintained my silence in deference to the tragedy.

However the tabloid known for its leftist sympathies, the Philippine Reporter, and its left-leaning publisher Hermie Garcia, would not allow us to mourn; it had to drag this reporter, and the paper I write for, Balita, and its editor and publisher Tess Cusipag, to its inconsiderate behaviour.

Garcia's surrogate in Vancouver, the idiotic blogger named Ted Alcuitas, writes in his paper's latest issue (Nov. 24 to Dec. 7, 2017) an article only a mindless incompetent could compose - an obituary about Enverga that, to my mind, trivializes him and his stature.

That Alcuitas was allowed by Garcia to write illustrates ineptness on both of them.

Alcuitas is an old fart (and that's a compliment), an uncredentialed blogger dependent on press releases and published news reports. He copies, reports and publishes fake news. A good example is what he calls "Breaking: Cusipag and Marquez Guilty of Contempt" posted on March 13, 2017. 

On March 25, 2017, 9:18 p.m., it was updated with the subhead: "Senator Enverga 'Happy' with Result". The first paragraph reads: "The publisher of Toronto's Balita and his (sic) editor has (sic) been found guilty of contempt March 8 for violating the injunction in a previous (sic) libel case filed by Senator Tobias Enverga".

Note the factual and grammatical mistakes. How can one trust a write-up such as this . . . unless you're as equally incompetent as Hermie Garcia, right? 

I'm not even found guilty of anything, yet Alcuitas, abominably, echoes the same line that the cowardly Balita Boycott, which I now rename BaBoy Tonto, propagates. Thus, Alcuitas and BaBoy Tonto are engaged in disinformation. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCAEhedA_hY).

For me to be cited for contempt, there has to be a pre-existing court order that I violated. In fact and in truth, there was none, there is none, not even a judgment against me. Maybe I should hail him to court for the scurrilous lies he's peddling. I just might do that if only to stop his nonsense.

Alcuitas' work is essentially "churnalism". That makes him a "churnalist", not a journalist. His chief claim to newspaper renown was his self-declaration that he was a friend of the late Ruben Cusipag, the veteran journalist who founded Balita in 1978. (Related story at: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310439).

He knew that by invoking Ruben's good name, doors would open for him, for being friends with Ruben was like a clean bill of health allowing entry into a respected group of thinking individuals. Ruben's widow, Tess Cusipag, however, had some doubts. She never heard about Alcuitas, much less knew his journalism background if he had any.

So even as Alcuitas begged her to be allowed to write for her paper, which incidentally is Toronto's largest Filipino newspaper, Tess Cusipag refused, not once, but a number of times. He was itching to get his name out in the Filipino community.

Well, Vancouver's "churnalist", a fount of garbage as far as Balita's is concerned, proved to be a treasure for Philippine Reporter. I assume that he could write there so long as he adheres to what his master, Hermie Garcia, tells him what to do, which he does without hesitation. And so now comes his article about Enverga.

Here are excerpts: "Among the fiercest criticism came from Toronto's Balita newspaper which constantly ridiculed the senator for his alleged incompetence in the job," Alcuitas writes.

I don't know who is incompetent. But when Alcuitas refers to Enverga as a "banker", he proves himself a slouch, for working in a bank does not make one a banker. A janitor in a bank does not make him a banker; he's simply a janitor who happens to work in a bank.

Alcuitas continues: "Balita followed his every activity in Toronto and suburbs and hammered on his alleged failure to account for monies raised in a community project before being appointed to the Senate."

If truly Garcia and Alcuitas were journalists, why didn't they provide a brief background about the "monies raised" and the community organization involved? Why did they omit Enverga's negative side, that of creating the fictitious Tony Tarungan with his friend Ace Alvarez that tried to undermine the Philippine Independence Day Council?

If only they did, they would have appreciated what Balita had done for and in the name of the Filipino community - seeking the truth, and in the process losing an amount 73 times bigger than the measly sum it sought for an organization wanting an edifice of its own. It may sound ridiculous but Balita was fighting for principle. 

"Eventually Enverga filed a libel suit against the paper, its publisher Tess Cusipag and Romeo P. Marquez for defaming him. Last year, Enverga won a judgment against the defendants and was awarded $350,000 in damages, one of the largest awards for libel suits in Canada," says Alcuitas.

"Cusipag was also sentenced to 21 days in jail for contempt of court for violating the injunction imposed in connection with the libel case. She served 13 days of her sentence," he states.

The defamation suit and the consequent payment of damages - the grand total is at least $414,714.86 (four hundred fourteen thousand seven hundred fourteen and eighty-six cents), a windfall by any measure - had nothing to do with Enverga's death.

Unless Alcuitas and his master Hermie Garcia are of the malicious mind trying to establish a causal link between the monetary bonanza and the heart attack, which is really an affront on the dignity of Enverga and Tess Cusipag.

While Tess Cusipag lost in the courts for standing her ground, she would not go down the gutter where thrives the likes of Alcuitas, Garcia, and the people behind BaBoy Tonto. It's just not in her nature, no matter how much money she loses.

Which brings out the thoughts of some people that Enverga might have been overjoyed by the windfall that he could not contain his delight, thus triggering the heart attack. I am in no position to affirm that impression for I am not a medical doctor. Be that as it may, some people's reactions are of that nature.

A day prior (November 15) to his death on November 16, Tess' family wrote a cheque for $4,714.86 in the name of Enverga's lawyer in compliance with their demand. That amount was in addition to the two cheques paid three weeks earlier in the amount of $407,955 and $2,045. Overall, the three cheques totaled $414,714.86 (four hundred fourteen thousand seven hundred fourteen and eighty-six cents).

If Alcuitas was alluding to this fact as one of the possible causes of Enverga's demise, then Hermie Garcia is as much to blame for letting him write his fake news in his newspaper. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLvaII3dtMw).

Hermie Garcia and wife Mila A. Garcia - the ubiquitous social climbers - and their tabloid, excel in the practice of subversion. In fact, they were imprisoned, not for their principled stand on something, but because they were identified with communist elements wanting to overthrow the Philippine government.

Compare that with the 13-day punishment Tess Cusipag endured in a women's reformatory. Hers was for standing up for the exercise of the freedom of expression; theirs was to replace a duly-constituted authority with a foreign ideology.

Besides Alcuitas, Garcia had another proxy, a spineless computer thief, who tried to besmirch Tess' late husband while he laid in state, pretending to be a friend while all the while a venomous snake. He did his bidding mindlessly.

Prior to Enverga's sad story, Garcia used his paper again to score points. He published a picture he took of Dr. Solon Guzman and a young lady holding a copy of the tabloid that bannered Tess Cusipag's jail sentence.

It had the practical effect of endorsing Garcia and the paper in the attack against Tess Cusipag. In truth, none of the two people in the photo knew of Garcia's vengeful intent. Even then, Dr. Guzman apologized, saying he did not realize that Garcia was using him.

The three episodes - Alcuitas on Enverga, the computer thief on Ruben Cusipag, and Hermie Garcia on Dr. Guzman - highlight the obsession of Hermie Garcia to destabilize Balita to favor his tabloid. There's not much of a difference in what he and his wife did in the past that landed them in prison.