Volume 3, Issue No. 63
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 Thursday, June 23, 2022
~ The unraveling is happening as the day nears for the proposed staging of the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival. Organizers have been hyping the event, billing it "Tuloy ang Saya" (roughly "continue with the fun") but the fun seems to be concentrated on a handful of diehard supporters that make up the cheerleading squad. Questions remain unanswered as to the funding, the sponsors, the performers, and the real status of an alleged not-for-profit org undertaking the fest.
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WHY ARE THEY SO SECRETIVE?
The Hypocrisy of Taste of Manila Organizers
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
“He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.”―
Miserable is the man who is caught in those circumstances. The inability to understand simple facts can be corrected, stupidity can not. I can only commiserate with the man, whoever he is, in this situation.
For a journalist, it is unpardonable. For a pretend journalist, the hypocrisy offends us. Nowhere else can we find such a bunch except in the Filipino community.
Talking endlessly and senselessly seems to have been transformed into a license to be called a broadcaster, podcaster, reporter, media person, press, socmed influencer, etcetera, etcetera. In truth, none of those qualifies as a journalist in the strictest sense of the word.
Having a so-called press card "bought" from some membership club does not make the holder a journalist. For example, Dannasol Luna, alias Lovely, has made a point of posting an identification card that says "Press Reporter Card" on Facebook.
Having a piece of paper that says "diploma" from an online education platform like what Luna has does not make her a journalist. It's the reportage and the published body of work that tell the world one is indeed a journalist.
Without those, everything is an empty claim, a boast that negates itself. Reading Luna's posting is illustrative, one because it murders the English language, and two, she lacks the facility to think and verbalize her thoughts. In other words, she's a simpleton.
In my estimation, the only body of work she has is the childish posting on Facebook and the numerous selfies that validate her claim as a "reporter". It's embarrassing.
Then there's the talking head named Rolly Mangante, also known as "Kabise," the great pretender (apologies to The Platters) whose bloated ego transformed him overnight from driver to president and CEO of an alleged organization behind the planned Taste of Manila (ToM) festival.
Kabise loves to talk. He's more like a parrot that chatters on matters of which he has no knowledge and understanding. At work as a driver before he retired, he sometimes overdressed like he was shaming the real diplomats at the Philippine Consulate. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcs34cnA2bs).
And, of course, we have Mon Datol, the (tall order) dude who is short and stocky, fondly called Mondee by his blind followers. In the land of the hobbits, he is a giant at less than five feet. Make that giant of giants for the belly that looks like he's six months pregnant. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).
Prior to their proposal to have ToM this year, they were nodding acquaintances. My limited contact expanded a little bit when the purported not-for-profit International Entertainment Company (IEC) owned by a Cecille O. Araneta fronted as the main organizer.
Because Mondee flaunted her name to imply affinity to the wealthy, Spanish-descended Araneta clan in the Philippines, I have asked to explain her origins. Is she really related by blood, or her last name is merely adoptive? Not to be intrusive but she looks more Chinese than Spanish. Well, I will ask Uncle Bernie.
In the words of the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle, the kind of friendship I had with the Trio Los Bobos Plus One belongs to the category of friendship based on utility, which is distinguished from friendship based on pleasure, and friendship based on goodness.
The last category - friendship based on goodness - is rare in the Filipino community. Aristotle says it is "the perfect friendship". Rightly so because it doesn't take advantage, it doesn't exploit, it accepts regardless of station in life. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/friendships-in-filipino-community.html).
Between having these folks as friends (based on utility), I'd rather stay true to what I have endeavored to do since adulthood, i.e. a no-nonsense journalist committed to the ethical practice of journalism, fearful of nobody, and beholden to no one.
While they may be popular in their small circle, Luna, Mangante, Datol, and Araneta don't mean much, as far as I'm concerned. They're passive onlookers, bystanders, for the most part, waiting for an opportunity. ToM was the opportunity. (Related story: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/01/tom-undergoes-political-rehabilitation.html).
I focus on them only because, yes, ONLY BECAUSE, they're hyping themselves as the brand-new, uncorrupted organizers of a festival I had helped grow from beginning to end. I focus on them because I found out that they pirated footage from my videos and refused to admit it.
Mangante was a nonentity prior to Taste of Manila (ToM), the idea of which he stole from the Philippine Consulate. He was contented driving diplomats to and from appointments and out-of-town consular visits. That was his job.
Now, it needs to be told. ToM's success was in no small part due to people who volunteered to lend a hand, like Teresa and Mon Torralba, among others, whose own Filipinos Making Waves Festival had been a precursor to ToM's ascendancy as the top Filipino street fest in the city.
On the Torralbas, Mangante relied heavily. They have the brainpower, the expertise, the contacts. Kabise just didn't have the mind to do such a huge cultural event, let alone understand the complex ins and outs of management, documentation, and appearances before city authorities to secure the necessary permits.
I have yet to know why Araneta's IEC and her gang of pirates are so secretive about ToM except for the boring slogan "Tuloy ang Saya!".
I humbly suggest that they add to the blurb "Tuloy ang Saya featuring the Tro Los Bobos (or Tatlong Itlog)" to make it more attractive, after all, many Filipinos go for that kind of fun. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).
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