By Socrates ‘Soc’ Moreno Non-profit organizations like the Filipino Centre-Toronto (FCT) do not belong to a chosen few but to itsmembers, who in our case, represent the Filipino community.FCT executive council officers and board of directors (BOD) who volunteered their services have afiduciary responsibility to safeguard members’ interests, manage assets of the organization withintegrity, and promote the Filipino… Read More »
I had a wonderful calming Thanksgiving Day event with my immediate family last weekend. Hope you did too. Nothing over the top. Who does fancy in this Covid age? We had an Asian-Canadian feast. Of course, no one wanted to cook. The solution (as always) – take out food. We had a table full of Peking duck and… Read More »
I’m ready! “But what now if all the peace, the comfort, the contentment were to come to a horrible end?” – Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis. I have a good life. How can I complain when I had drawn the lucky stick, being born in a rich, middle-class family? My parents had professional careers: dad was a surgical doctor… Read More »
By Mae Bentia Her schemes sound like legitimate business. In one case she used her restaurant as bait for investment money, and in another she trafficked artists from the Philippines to come to Canada for shows that never took place. Her ploy was to ask for funds upfront but once she got it the promise vanished into thin… Read More »
By Socrates Moreno Some Filipino organizations in the Greater Toronto Area come and go like smoke, but those that continue are thriving with significant wins. Three major Filipino non-profit organizations that fit the description stand out: they are Mississauga’s Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre (KCCC), founded in 1983, the Markham Federation of Filipino Canadians (MFFC) founded in 1989, and… Read More »
“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. It is always a fool’s errand to make a prediction. But I’ll take the risk and the shame if I get it wrong because I’m so desperate to get rid of Donald Trump once and for all. This coming November 3, I think the… Read More »
It has been a month since my last column but it feelslike only 2 weeks has gone by.Moving is a time-warping experience, in my book. Likebeing in a bubble in a world of your own. But it is one of the bestways to keep you alert and aware. Aside from the being the opportune time to clean up… Read More »
“No matter how phantasmagoric its stagings often were, the totalitarian society from which I had come was not…some sort of unearthly, demonic aberration, but a human reality that still persists and may indeed revive in other guises as an ideology and as a form of society.” Norman Manea, On Clowns: The Dictator and the Artist, (1992). “Sir…Sir…Sir…”Ah, I’ve… Read More »
Members Clamor for an Independent Financial Auditby Maria CJ De Villa Many people claim that FCT may well be the wealthiest non-profit Filipino community centre in Canada. Why? Because with the liquidation of its building last January 2017, its coffers swelled to a staggering $5.9 million (gross sale). While it would have been cause for a glorious celebration,… Read More »
“Some friends are like sunny days, with false flames, oozing from afar, coming near without a dime.” – Michael Bassey Johnson. I can smell her vulnerability from afar. I have this uncanny ability to sense my victim. It started at a young age with a big lie that helped me avoid punishment if caught. Since then lying has… Read More »