| Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Part II of “Filipino-American Fourth Estate” Series
The economic dislocation in the late 2000s during the waning years of President George W. Bush’s second term also brought havoc to the minority versions of the American Fourth Estate. Several Filipino-American publications were forced to shut down for good. Those who continued their existence trimmed their sizes from broadsheet to tabloids. Some mainstream newspapers have also reduced their size and the number of pages per issue. Some newspaper bureaus were closed, and the number of paid staff members and editors was reduced.
Mar G. de Vera was the editor-in-chief of two Filipino-American publications in Los Angeles that shut down in the early 2000s. Mr. De Vera hired this journalism graduate first as a cub reporter in 1988 and promoted him to a columnist after a probationary period of three months. He decided to put up his own publication cum publishing house, the L.A. Newsday after the said publications shut down for good. His firm was contracted by this journalist to do the typesetting, paging, book editing, and printing (by a sub-contractor of his choice) of his second book, a political novel called One Day in the Life of a Sonovabitch. It was sold out, and we could only print 1,000 copies.
De Vera, Romeo P. Borje, and Fred Burce Bunao accepted the invitation of this writer to organize a weekly business meeting in the form of a “Media Breakfast Club” (MBC) and a “Media and Business Club” (MBC2). Our first three charter members were Ms. Carrie Garcia-Lorenzana (who used to be a journalist in Metro Manila), Ms. Nena Aragon Decena (a publisher), and Henry von Seyfried, an American writer who was a good friend of the Philippines. The first weekly breakfast meeting was held on July 7, 1993, at the Jeepney Grill in the Midtown area of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Since it was not billed as a press club, many members of several Filipino-American press organizations attended its meetings. After a year, the MBC Group needed a bigger venue. It transferred to Bahay Kubo Restaurant in what was eventually named “Historic Filipinotown” by the City Council of Los Angeles.
Our MBC2 then started to operate often twin booths in the Asian Festival of the Los Angeles County Fair (1997-1999), the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at UCLA (1997-1999), and its Travel Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival at Little Saigon (1999-2000) and the June 12 Los Angeles County Filipino-American Employees Association (LACFAEA) for years.
Then, one of our MBC guests. Ruben Panopio, who founded the Filipino Expo at the Los Angeles County Fair, invited us to participate in his annual event. We joined him even when he moved his expo to the Queen Mary and docked in Long Beach Port for one year. In exchange for publicity, the MBC had twin booths at the Panopio events until it folded up. We also participated in a Filipino-American Exposition in San Diego County, upon the invitation of Oscar Jornacion, CPA, founder and CEO of the California Examiner newspaper 2003.
We honored Mr. Panopio as a dignitary to witness the throwing of the ceremonial ball by then-Consul General Mary Joy Bernardo Aragon at the Second Filipino-American Community Night at Dodgers Stadium in July 2007. Acting Philippine Ambassador Willy Gaa had the honor of hurling the ceremonial first pitch the previous year when the Fil-Am Night at Dodgers Stadium debuted in July 2006.
We also did not forget Mr. Jornacion for the favor by bringing then-Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., to the California Examiner office, where he exclusively interviewed with its internet radio station in 2003.
“We showed how the Filipino Fourth Estate could introduce innovations to survive economic versions of a roller coaster. But then, many of our supporters, including several Filipino-American publications, were affected by the economic recession of the G. W. Bush years. They could no longer support economic activities.”
We billed ourselves as business entrepreneurs and teamed up with the Filipino-American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA), where we held Philippine Independence Day events, often accompanied by a parade, U.S. Flag Day, and Bessang Pass Anniversary at MacArthur Park in Wilshire Boulevard, and Philippine Presidents’ Day. By the way, the FACLA offered to host the MBC meetings, gratis et amore. We moved to its clubhouse and stayed there for several years. This wordsmith was even elected as a FACLA Board of Trustees member and served as its Secretary General in the early mid-2000s.
We showed how the Filipino Fourth Estate could introduce innovations to survive economic versions of a roller coaster. But then, many of our supporters, including several Filipino-American publications, were affected by the economic recession of the G. W. Bush years. They could no longer support economic activities.
The cooperation between the Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine Tourism, and the Philippine Trade Offices in Los Angeles, California, slowed to a trickle. Yes, when this journalist started in 1992, a move was made to block the appointment of a politician as consul general in the Los Angeles Consulate General. This wordsmith said that our first duty is to investigate reports, aside from covering mundane activities of the Filipino-American community and writing op-ed articles and essays.
We blocked the nomination, which President Fidel V. Ramos withdrew in 1993. We ensured that a career Filipino diplomat would always be appointed to the Philippine Consulate General. This journalist was later treated like a pariah by Filipino government officials in Los Angeles because of his activism. The MBC continued to operate, as its core group made it a point to have Mr. Borje, Ms. Lorenzana, and other members serve as presiding officers and chairpersons. I was just introduced as its founder and remained in the background.
Things changed for the better when a career diplomat with the rank of ambassador, Marciano Paynor, Jr., arrived to head the consulate general in Los Angeles. Consul General Paynor decided to call for elections to unify the community by electing the chairperson and vice chair (as chairperson elect for the next year) of Philippine Independence events. His office invited this journalist to cover and participate in it. A separate election for chair of the Philippine Independence Day (PID) Parade and Program at the Historic Filipinotown (sic) was held in 2003. This journalist was elected to chair the parade with the support of the Filipino-American press and community organizations. A separate election was conducted for the Independence Gala and Ball.
Again, the same thing happened in the 2005 election. This wordsmith was nominated for the PID overall chairmanship and came in second, making him the automatic chairman-elect for 2006. Surprisingly, Ms. Annie Cuevas, the new director of the Philippine Tourism Office in Los Angeles, supported all PID events in 2005 and 2006. She instructed her deputy, Manny Ilagan, to co-chair the 2006 and 2007 Filipino-American Community Nights at the Dodgers Stadium with this author.
Indeed, miracles still happen in the Filipino-American Community and with its Fourth Estate members. To use an oft-quoted adage, all is well and ends well.
