By Ted Alcuitas
Philippine Asian News Today
We were saddened to hear of the death on July 12 of Ruben C. Cusipag, founder and publisher of Balita, Toronto’s leading Filipino newspaper and one of the longest running Filipino newspaper in Canada.
Ruben and I had a long history together.
We were of kindred spirits and shared a vision of having a paper that would give voice to the aspirations of the pioneer Filipino immigrants.
In the 70’s before the computer and the real ‘cut and paste’ method was the only way of publishing a paper, we struggled to soldier on. It was a labour of love indeed and despite the difficulties and the obstacles thrown at us for opposing the Marcos dictatorship at the time, we persevered.
At the time, there were only four Filipino newspapers in Canada three of which were published in the east in Montreal and Toronto and only one in the west , in Winnipeg.
Ruben started as editor of Atin Ito in Toronto, published by Ed Lee but broke off a year later to start his own – Balita, in 1976. Fred Magallanes published The Filipino Forum in Montreal and I started Silangan (with my late brother-in-law Flor Cadigal and Ric Sumaling) in Winnipeg covering the western provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
Although I had no previous journalism background unlike Ruben who was already a seasoned journalist in Manila before immigrating to Canada, he respected me and I looked up to him as my mentor.
He also influenced me in my political thinking and analysis as I was not one of the so-called ‘activists’ in the Philippines.
Ruben was, like most of the Filipino journalists at the declaration of Martial Law in Sept. 21, 1972, arrested and detained by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
I came to Canada in June 1968 before martial law and had no political involvement back then except sharing a friendship with a fellow Cebuano who was later imprisoned by Marcos.
Silangan did not initially took a political stand against Marcos but at the prodding of Ruben and the events leading up to the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. (father of the current president Benigno Aquino III) I took a leap of faith and joined the opposition.
So it was that two publishers in Canada and in some ways, Fred Magallanes of the Filipino Forum in Montreal, were the target of intense harassment by the Marcos minions in Canada not unlike the vicious campaign against anti-Marcos publications in the U.S. most notably Alex Esclamado’s San Francisco-based Philippine News.
It was a testament to Ruben’s tenacious effort to oppose the regime that Balita survived to this day.
Silangan of course had a short five-year existence when I sold the paper to its current owner, Rod Cantiveros and his late wife Linda. Silangan changed its name to The Filipino Journal and continues to publish in Winnipeg.
It is important that the history of the Filipino ethnic media in Canada has to be written so that the current and future generations will understand the seeds that we have planted.
There are now perhaps, more than 25 Filipino newspapers in Canada with Toronto having the most at 15 or more.
It is equally important to understand that our newspapers played a role in opposing the Marcos regime abroad and documented the struggles against it.
If there is one person who personified that struggle, it is Ruben Cusipag.
May he find in his final resting place, the just and lasting peace for his homeland that eluded him.