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 »
In Sept of last year, I wrote a two-part article for BALITA about the gathering of “dark clouds” in the Philippine educational landscape. I couldn’t have been more prescient when in Dec 2019 the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment ) results of 2018 computer-based, 2-hour test were revealed. The assessment was administered to 600,000 15-year-olds in 79 participating countries. We… Read More »
Beautiful halcyon days! Sun in full splendor. Blue skies. White fluffy clouds. Cool breeze. Perfect! How we want to hold on to this kind of days. But alas! Life is not life if it stays this way. The livingness of life, as I have realized it, is change. Nothing stays the same. Even our bodies change every second.… Read More »
By: Edwin de Leon There are probably more books and titles dedicated to life’s most perplexing wringer. What is the meaning of life? If we take this question on a purely biological basis, the short answer is “none”. Just as the universe has no meaning, so is the life ( or lives ) in it. We give meaning to our lives… Read More »