Mondee Names Alleged Culprits

Volume 4, Issue No. 2

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 Friday, July 8, 2022 

~ From their last hurrah in 2019, a cabal of wannabes and blabbermouths infesting the Little Manila hub initiated a virtual Taste of Manila mainly to arrest its slide into insignificance. Amidst the pandemic, the virtual presentation went on with a host of performers who likely did not know that most of the film footage incorporated in the patched-up video was stolen from The Filipino Web Channel. Now, one of the guys who had knowledge of it is pointing fingers at others, apparently to protect his partner. 

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THE FINGER-POINTING HAS STARTED

Mon Datol Blames Colleagues for Video Steal

He says they're Philip Beloso, Pete Torralba, Rolly Mangante

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“People with a style of denial and blaming are definitely on the list of unsafe people to avoid.” ― Henry Cloud

TORONTO - By a statement aired publicly, the organizers behind a proposal to stage Taste of Manila (ToM) this year appeared to have conspired in stealing videos and images to prop up their initial "virtual presentation" of the festival in 2020.

Their concern was obvious. For a cash cow as ToM had been to some people, letting it slip out of memory was not an option. Its last person-to-person staging, or shall I say its last hurrah, was in August 2019. 

By December of the same year, the coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, China, giving rise to the name COVID-19. In January 2020, the World Health Organization declared a coronavirus pandemic, prompting lockdowns, prohibitions against mass gatherings, and the adoption of strict health protocols.

The pandemic exacerbated ToM's precarious situation. It had gone bankrupt despite massive public attendance. Where its funds went was never explained. ToM would not have made it in 2018 through 2019 had not the City of Toronto intervened and rescued it from total disaster.

So ToM had virtual presentations while the pandemic was raging. Organizers would not let it die even as its financial state was in shambles.

Now, after a number of stories exposing how the virtual presentation and its stolen contents came about, Mon Datol alias Mondee, the alleged sportscaster-turned-podcaster is pointing fingers at the alleged culprits of the steal.

In his promdi-style of speaking, Mondee has disclosed, and I quote verbatim:

"Ang habulin mo yung PESO. Yan ang gumawa ng virtual," he declares. 

PESO is the acronym for Philippine Community Events & Services Ontario, reportedly a not-for-profit organization, which took over from the Philippine Cultural Community Centre (PCCC), another purported not-for-profit run by Mangante.

"Habulin mo si Rolly, habulin mo yung nasa PESO, sila Philip Beloso, sila Ka Pete Torralba. Eh bakit mo idadamay si Cecille at aming kumpanya IEC?" Mondee reveals in a recent podcast.

Rolly is Rolly Mangante, aka "Kabise," the driver who claims he founded ToM. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcs34cnA2bs, and full story at https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/06/little-manila-no-country-for-stupids.html ).

Philip Beloso is the ubiquitous photo bomber in community events whose loyalties fly like a butterfly. He could be at Filipino Centre Toronto where he draws some honorarium, or at other gatherings where he plays emcee. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/11/is-third-party-audit-ongoing-at-fct.htmland video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWabOiCwhU).

Pete Torralba (no relation to the well-known and trustworthy Torralba couple Mon and Teresa) is a low-profile organizer who was originally a PCCC officer. 

Cecille is Cecille Araneta of jeepney fame. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTnX700_a8). IEC is International Entertainment Company, again a purported not-for-profit either jointly owned and managed by Mondee and Araneta. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/06/whats-in-name-is-araneta-araneta.html).

"Anong pakialam ng IEC doon sa hinahabol mo nuong 2020. Kelan lang kami, nuong 2022 pumasok, hahabulin mo kami," he cries out. 

Indeed, if IEC came into existence only this year, as Mondee explains, why would it be trusted by individual and corporate sponsors knowing it has no record of anything to speak of?

Mondee's disclosure gives us an idea of the entire scheme and the extent of involvement of individuals of questionable motives in pulling off ToM this year. Rather than explain to the community, Mondee and his gang treat us to an intricate system of dubious not-for-profit organizations supposedly managing a singular event that is ToM.

He keeps insisting that PESO was responsible for stealing film footage. But Mondee did not say why his name and image, and those of Araneta, "Kabise" and his wife Nieves Mangante, and many others, appear in the virtual presentation. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

He says: " . . .  wala namang alam si Cecille Araneta dun sa hinahabol mo . . . Yang IEC, ito lang yan 2022 ToM. Yung hinahabol mo nung 2020 virtual presentation eh PESO ang gumawa nun". 

Like before, is Mondee shitting us? (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).