Who Exactly Is Going to Run 2022 Taste of Manila?

 Volume 3, Issue No. 44

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 

Our latest as of Monday, April 18, 2022 

~ Two, or possibly three, purported not-for-profit organizations have popped out recently to handle a new Taste of Manila festival being planned for summer in Toronto's unofficial Little Manila business district. There's hardly any information about them and their alleged officials that would help determine their financial standing, experience, competence, and reliability as events organizers. Are they fly-by-night operators? Is the ToM they're proposing genuine, or is that an elaborate con game to victimize sponsors, vendors, and the community? 

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PLANNED TASTE OF MANILA 2022

Fly-By-Night Orgs Behind Street Festival?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Secrets have a way of making themselves felt, even before you know there's a secret.” ― Jean Ferris

TORONTO - The conduct of the so-called press conference by a new group proposing to resuscitate the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival this summer has set off alarm bells and a handful of key questions involving the organizers, the invited guests, and the local media.

The most revealing that came out of that scrum was the answer to points I raised about funding, no less from Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak who represents the area that had been home to the street fest from 2014 through 2019. 

He clarified his part in what's now evolving as a serious breach to the integrity and trustworthiness of both the so-called not-for-profit (NFP) organizations and the people behind them who appear set on staging this year's ToM.

The NFPs have stolen film footage of past ToM events, manipulated the original contents, and uploaded patched-up videos on their social media platforms without acknowledging the source nor giving credit to the owner and first creator, which is The Filipino Web Channel.

"I don't know the situation about the videos so I can't comment on it," Pasternak explained at the press conference called by ToM organizers and supporters at Top Silog restaurant on Sunday, April 10, 2022. 

He seemed, or pretended, to be unaware that his picture has been spliced into one of the pilfered footage showing Member of Parliament Marco Mendicino and Mayor John Tory which was then uploaded on YouTube as ToM's virtual presentation.

Similarly, images of Cecille Araneta, reportedly the head of an NFP called International Entertainment Company, and Nieves Mangante, wife of Rolly Mangante, alleged founder of ToM, have been inserted in another footage that made up the whole stolen video. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

With his brief explanation, Pasternak, a three-termer city official who is seeking a fourth term in the October election, was obviously distancing himself from the controversy. 

I don't know if he was simply pleading innocence. He may or may not have been informed that his picture was being used to legitimize a steal from which, I suppose, the NFPs earned a decent sum from sponsors. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Rx_lgI8f8).

However, my suspicion is bolstered by the sight of Pasternak being buddy-buddy with the organizers, the kind of interaction I had not seen in the six years of my ToM coverage. Add to that the patronizing comments of fawning podcaster Ramon Datol who glowingly introduced him to the crowd with a reminder that Pasternak was running for reelection in the upcoming polls.

I believe Pasternak is well-intentioned in helping reduce the city's costs for ToM organizers. To be fair, he did the same in previous years. But knowing this new group with questionable credentials has no existing track record to mount such a huge community event, he could have been more prudent in dealing with them.

At the press gaggle last week, I keep wondering why, first, none among the NFPs had an identifying tag that would have indicated names, positions, and the organization. Presumably, everyone was comfortable if not closely familiar with each other. 

I know some by their faces but whatever their roles are in holding ToM are totally alien to me. The presence and participation of a suspicious community character who had been accused of attempting to rape a media colleague really bothered me a lot. Why do they harbor this sex-starved fellow?

A second question that's quite disturbing is the absence of legitimate media - the publishers, editors, and their staff - who usually show up at such events. Compare to the 2014 launching attended by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_NaPxZg8XE), last week's announcement looked like a gathering of a bunch of cheering nincompoops.

Did the local media deliberately boycott the event because of what they knew about the people now fronting as the administrators who want to salvage ToM from its moribund situation? Did they believe their presence would amount to an implicit endorsement of the group?

Third, a two-page piece of paper handed to attendees contained scant information about International Entertainment Company (IEC), the purported NFP headed by Cecille Araneta, and the Taste of Manila (ToM) as a corporate entity.

I suspect - and this is my own considered opinion - that IEC is a fly-by-night operative. I could be wrong, and I'm ready to be corrected. But the hours I spent searching official Ontario and Toronto websites yielded nothing to expunge that perception.

IEC's only internet presence is on YouTube showing that it popped out of nowhere on April 5, 2022, with a total of twenty-nine (29) views of its nine videos of individuals. That's hardly "international" in any language. It has two subscribers, who could be the owner and the spouse.

An interesting portrayal of IEC is the four-minute-and-14-second text-only, no visuals, video titled "end credits" that was uploaded also on April 5, 2022. If this date is IEC's birthday, how could it suddenly be the major player in ToM? And if the city is going to waive some fees, it should first investigate.

The "end credits" state that, and I quote verbatim, "Taste of Manila 2021 Virtual Event Presentation is a non-profit organization that uses local talent to entertain the viewers using covers in celebrating Filipino Festival that was interrupted by the recent pandemic. In lieu of Street Festivities, the organization turned to Virtual Event Presentation to thank and honour survivors, heroes, and everyone affected by the recent adversity".

It's badly written - and disrespectful of the basic rules of grammar - but I do get the point. In other words, two, possibly three, identical organizations exist - one, Araneta's IEC, and two, the "Taste of Manila 2021 Virtual Event Presentation". There's nothing on official websites to show this last organization is listed as an NFP.

Apparently, there's a third which also appeared in the "end credits", namely, the "International Taste of Manila Inc." where the names Cecille Araneta, Ramon Datol, Eduard Que, Ian Santillan, and Jim Torres are identified. Again, the purported company is nowhere to be found.

Rolly Mangante, the retired driver of the Philippine Consulate and self-proclaimed founder of Taste of Manila, is identified as the "founding president and CEO Taste of Manila Festival." It seems it's all bluster.

There's a clear attempt to confuse here possibly to escape accountability in case of a mess up. That strengthens my view on why Araneta refused to answer my question about paying for the stolen footage and passed on the responsibility to Ramon Datol whose answer was just as evasive if not moronic. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU). (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).