| Ruben Cusipag Markham, Ontario, Canada A Fearless Journalist Crusader and Community Leader |
He was a former reporter and weekly columnist for the Manila
Evening News (now defunct) and still somehow manages to
transform his otherwise languid journalistic domain into
something exciting. During the past 16 years, he has undoubtedly
transformed Balita, as its editor and publisher, into one of the
most crusading Filipino newspapers in North America. Although
his salaried Manila-based staff abundantly provides news about
the home country, he makes a conscious effort to confront the
reality of Filipino immigrants abroad in his newspaper. If he is not
deeply engaged in exposing the many ills in his recently
transplanted community, he is in the midst of fund-raising
campaigns for victims of disasters in the Philippines or for a lowly
Filipino domestic help dying of cancer.
Now considered among the breed of veteran Filipino newsmen,
Cusipag has been in the profession for more than three decades.
For him, there is no life after journalism career. In his senior year
in Araullo High School in Manila, he became editor in chief of the
school organ, The Wall. He later enrolled at the University of the
Evening News (now defunct) and still somehow manages to
transform his otherwise languid journalistic domain into
something exciting. During the past 16 years, he has undoubtedly
transformed Balita, as its editor and publisher, into one of the
most crusading Filipino newspapers in North America. Although
his salaried Manila-based staff abundantly provides news about
the home country, he makes a conscious effort to confront the
reality of Filipino immigrants abroad in his newspaper. If he is not
deeply engaged in exposing the many ills in his recently
transplanted community, he is in the midst of fund-raising
campaigns for victims of disasters in the Philippines or for a lowly
Filipino domestic help dying of cancer.
Now considered among the breed of veteran Filipino newsmen,
Cusipag has been in the profession for more than three decades.
For him, there is no life after journalism career. In his senior year
in Araullo High School in Manila, he became editor in chief of the
school organ, The Wall. He later enrolled at the University of the
Philippines to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in English. Under Armando Malay, he took up
journalism, which was then offered as a special course, before the inclusion of a full blown mass
communications program at UP. In his fourth year of college, he was hired as a proof-reader in the Old Manila
Evening News.
His first few years as a journalist were uneventful, as he depended primarily on press releases or going
along with the pack in the gathering of news articles. He came in contact with serious senior journalists like
Raul Locaia, Armando Doronilla, and Johnny Mercado who were in the forefront of introducing developmental
journalism in the Philippines. After a few more years, he got better breaks. He was given newsworthy beats
such as public works and foreign affairs or pinch-hitting for the defense, senate or presidential assignments.
In 1972, when Martial Law was declared, Ruben was among the 20 journalists detained in Camp Crame for
their articles against Marcos and upon his release after 67 days, he immediately planned to go abroad. He left
the Philippines in September, 1974, and faced a new life in Toronto, where he learned that it was not easy in
Canada to be an immigrant. He became the editor of the Newfoundland Signal and also became executive
director of Church-funded Canada Asia Working Group. Coming across endless stories of how his
compatriots suffered hardships before gaining equilibrium in their country, he wrote a book about them in
October , 1993, "Portrait of Filipino Canadians in Ontario (1960-1990). Actually, the first book which he edited
and published independently was "Democracy in the Philippines" by President Macapagal. Occasionally
giving into free-lance writing, Cusipag has published articles in the Toronto Star and has been a point of
reference on Philippine or Filipino Canadian affairs by the print and broadcast media. Definitely in Metro
Toronto's Filipino Community, Ruben has become a household word.
journalism, which was then offered as a special course, before the inclusion of a full blown mass
communications program at UP. In his fourth year of college, he was hired as a proof-reader in the Old Manila
Evening News.
His first few years as a journalist were uneventful, as he depended primarily on press releases or going
along with the pack in the gathering of news articles. He came in contact with serious senior journalists like
Raul Locaia, Armando Doronilla, and Johnny Mercado who were in the forefront of introducing developmental
journalism in the Philippines. After a few more years, he got better breaks. He was given newsworthy beats
such as public works and foreign affairs or pinch-hitting for the defense, senate or presidential assignments.
In 1972, when Martial Law was declared, Ruben was among the 20 journalists detained in Camp Crame for
their articles against Marcos and upon his release after 67 days, he immediately planned to go abroad. He left
the Philippines in September, 1974, and faced a new life in Toronto, where he learned that it was not easy in
Canada to be an immigrant. He became the editor of the Newfoundland Signal and also became executive
director of Church-funded Canada Asia Working Group. Coming across endless stories of how his
compatriots suffered hardships before gaining equilibrium in their country, he wrote a book about them in
October , 1993, "Portrait of Filipino Canadians in Ontario (1960-1990). Actually, the first book which he edited
and published independently was "Democracy in the Philippines" by President Macapagal. Occasionally
giving into free-lance writing, Cusipag has published articles in the Toronto Star and has been a point of
reference on Philippine or Filipino Canadian affairs by the print and broadcast media. Definitely in Metro
Toronto's Filipino Community, Ruben has become a household word.
Washington D.C. Since 1987
Washington D.C. Since 1987
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