(Part One of a Series on Reforming the Filipino-American Fourth Estate)
 
The "War of the Proses" (sic) began in 1992. It all started at the Filipino-American Press Club of Los Angeles (FAPCLA) when Mrs. Lourdes A. Ongkeko was its president. The FAPCLA was organized in 1976 as the first Overseas-Filipino press club and its first president was Romeo P. Borje, now the co-chairman of the Media Breakfast Club (MBC). It will probably be the Filipino-American version of the Thirty-Years War of 1618–1648, the general European war fought mainly in Germany.

The dispute (that I baptized the "War of the Proses") started when the FAPCLA officers led by Mrs. Ongkeko ignored the protest over the "Philippine Airlines (PAL) Scandal." I orchestrated the protest in the Filipino-American community in June 1992. Nearly all of the Filipino-American (and Filipino) media refused to cover my exposé about the illegal and immoral act of then President Cory Aquino in selling the controlling shares of PAL to a group headed by four of her nephews. The reason of course was that many of them feared the loss of complimentary tickets from PAL, advertisements and other freebies from the Philippine flag carrier, Philippine tourism, Philippine National Bank and its subsidiaries in the United States.

The "press war" escalated. In 1993 I questioned the wisdom of Mrs. Ongkeko in securing a grant from the Office of the Press Secretary of President Fidel Ramos. I questioned also the failure of the club officers to produce financial statements and submit the club's bank records for audit by the club auditor. What the FAPCLA officers did was to oust me as a member. They disenfranchised the other members who supported me and even kicked out Mr. Borje, the founding president, for protesting the illegal action. From a high of 60 members, the FAPCLA is down to about 10 members. In fact during the club's last election, there were more positions (17) than there were members. It is now a club of officers without any member (like a club of "emperors without clothes"). Some officers hold simultaneously two positions, which is illegal according to its bylaws. Now everybody calls it the "Filipino-American Depressed Club." It does not even conduct regular monthly meetings, as many of its remaining members are said to be "suffering from emotional depression and lots of mental anguish and stress, caused allegedly by Bobby Reyes."

Editor's Note: In fact, in some online postings made by self-proclaimed journalists like Rodel Rodis, et al, blamed the stroke suffered by the husband of Mrs. Ongkeko to Bobby Reyes' writings. Also, Mr. Rodis blames the constant pressure being exerted by Mr. Reyes as the cause allegedly of the Parkinson's disease of Alex Esclamado, the NaFFAA head honcho and founder of the Philippine News.On July 7, 1993, I founded the Media Breakfast Club (MBC) of Los Angeles, which was geared not to function as a press club but to provide a weekly community forum as an outreach program for the Filipino-American Fourth Estate. The Ongkeko-led FAPCLA leadership rejected the concept of an MBC, which I offered to it as a subsidiary undertaking. Joining the MBC as cofounders were Mr. Borje, Mar G. de Vera, Poet-pundit Fred Burce Bunao, Carrie Garcia-Lorenzana, Nena Aragon Decena and Henry von Seyfried (a German-American correspondent of Mr. Borje’s magazine, the Life Philippines-USA Today) – all of whom were also “expelled” by the FAPCLA controlling clique, without any hearing at all.

Editor’s Note: Ms. Lorenzana and Ms. Decena are now deceased. Some 31 other MBC members have also passed away since July 1993. Their names and résumés will soon be published in the Obituary-Memorial Park Section of this website.

The Ongkeko-led clique laughed off the MBC, as they said that it would not last a month. Then they said that it would not last a quarter and then a year. Well, on June 11, 2008, the MBC will hold its 940th event (forum) at the Social Hall of the Filipino-American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA), as it prepares to celebrate its 15th anniversary. On the other hand, the FAPCLA clique could not recruit members and does not even hold a monthly meeting anymore. The reason according to the ever-witty and humorous Mr. Bunao is that “the women controlling the clique do not also have their monthly period anymore, as all of them have menopaused (sic) in time.”

The FFAMAS Infamous MessThe Federation of Filipino-American Media Associations (FFAMAS) was formed on the occasion of President Ramos' visit to Los Angeles on Nov. 21, 1993. Essentially the FFAMAS leadership consisted of the presidents of the existing Filipino-American media organizations. Mrs. Ongkeko represented the FAPCLA and became a member of its Executive Committee. Allied with her was Alex Esclamado, then the Philippine News' publisher. Greg Macabenta was one of the FFAMAS advisers.

At the second national convention of the FFAMAS in San Bruno, California, in November 1994, I demanded a financial report from the organizers. I said that the Philippine government bankrolled the first FFAMAS convention held during the visit of President Ramos in Los Angeles the previous year. Not only did the FFAMAS get funding from the Office of the President but also from other Philippine agencies such as the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT), the PAL, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and from American companies doing business in the Philippines. The Pepsi-Cola Company of New York for instance donated $10,000 for the Ramos visit and media convention. And I said that receiving money from PAGCOR was not an amusing idea, as we could not write critical articles about legalized gambling in the Philippines if the casino operator was funding our media convention.

The FFAMAS Dies and the NaFFAA Is BornThe FFAMAS officials ignored my demand for a financial report. They did not invite me to the subsequent conventions (Honolulu in 1995, Las Vegas in 1996 and Manila in 1997). The FFAMAS died a "natural death" in late 1997, as many of its members began to question, following my lead, the failure of its leadership to do an accounting of its income and expenses.

The "War of the Proses" then shifted to Pasadena, California. We questioned the failure of the Lourdes Ongkeko-led US-Tourism Advisory Council and the DOT to account for the donations they received from Overseas Filipinos. The donations were for the Filipino floats fielded in the 1997 and 1998 Tournament of Roses parades. Then the fight shifted to the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA). The Philippine News publisher, Alex Esclamado, and his side-kick, Greg Macabenta, Lourdes Ongkeko and some of their friends who were trying hard to become writers like Loida Nicolas-Lewis, Rodel Rodis, et al, co-founded the NaFFAA in 1997.

The Battle of Little Rock (Arkansas) of the War of the Proses in March 2000 will be discussed in one of the coming articles of this series. It will also mention the twin Battles of Las Vegas (Nevada) fought in August and September 2000. The battles were all fought against the NaFFAA clique, which by then had replaced the controlling syndicates of the then-defunct FFAMAS and the FAPCLA, which was then (and still is) on a figurative coma being kept alive by life-support mechanisms.

(To be continued . . .)