Volume 4, Issue No. 6
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 22, 2022
~ Like the chaotic Philippine capital from where its name is appended, Toronto's Little Manila is where you find a hodgepodge of personalities - hypocrites, liars, opportunists, thieves, etc. But that is not to say there are no decent and reliable people there. In fact, it's a promised land for honest entrepreneurs and small-time vendors hacking their way to a good life. It also happens to be the centre of many community activities, civic and political, without which it would just be another bedroom town for the hardworking immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many a Filipino dream took shape here and became its nourishing ground. Small wonder that Little Manila resembles a battleground for those who dream big but are incapable of achieving it through legal and acceptable means.
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LITTLE MANILA HAS THEM ALL
Hypocrites, Liars, Thieves, Opportunists
A Taste of Manila Official Deplores Stealing But Forgets They Did It Too
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
“Hypocrisy is a form of self-deception and self-ignorance while engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another—allowing one to maintain the illusion that they are better than others.”
―
TORONTO - The hypocrisy is so nauseating. Truly distasteful for an event that seeks to promote a sense of taste, as in Taste of Manila, which by now is somewhat sour if not bitter.
And to think not even a murmur ever came from this dude who assumes the moral high ground deploring the unauthorized use by unnamed persons of materials supposedly belonging to the very project the idea of which he had stolen.
When challenged face-to-face at a press conference, Rolly Mangante, the former Philippine consulate driver better known as "Kabise", went tongue-tied, and passed the burden of explaining to Mon Datol alias Mondee, the "the tall (order)" who is actually short and stocky podcaster notable for his senseless chatter and promdi accent.
Kabise was talking to a reporter of OMNI Television named Keisha Balatbat, making himself appear virtuous to her who apparently didn't know much about him and the Taste of Manila (ToM), the festival he claimed he had founded.
The unspoken truth, however, is that he had sneakily taken the concept of a ToM fiesta from the consulate in Toronto years before its first staging in August 2014. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/who-exactly-is-going-to-run-2022-taste.html).
"Sila na lang po ang manghusga kung tama yung ginagawa na gamitin mo yung isang materials ng ibang festivities," he says in Tagalog while he walks with the interviewer in front of a big ToM banner on Wilson Ave. recently. (Translation: Let them be the judge if what they did was wrong).
"Hindi tama po yun para sa akin." (But for me, it's wrong), he adds. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_AzQjyqta8).
Of course, thieving is wrong in any language; it is unacceptable regardless of the worth of the purloined property. And Kabise's assertion that "hindi tama po yun" flies in the face of the stealing he and his gang committed against this reporter and his online news channel.
Perhaps he forgot that for two years at least, they had capitalized - and possibly made money from unsuspecting sponsors - on my videos and marketed the festival and themselves through virtual presentations.
That's where I discovered my videos were appropriated without my consent. Nor was I, or my YouTube channel, credited as the source of their material. It's akin to a daylight robbery.
They not only stole images but worst, they manipulated and spliced them with photos of people they wanted to promote. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ). They ignored the copyright, then altered the images to suit their needs.
With the data manipulation, the simple wrong became an egregious wrong. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/07/mondee-names-alleged-culprits.html).
Yet Kabise did not say a word about the steal and the manipulation that followed despite the insertion of the pictures of his wife, Nieves Mangante; Cecille Araneta, the funder for the proposed ToM in August; and Toronto Councillor James Pasternak who's running for reelection in October.
Malice is evident in those insertions. A local writer has boosted the self-conceit of the obscure Nieves Mangante after he called her "first lady of ToM". WTF? I don't know at what stage she's now in in her social-climbing activities in Little Manila. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-goofy-bunch-of-tom-characters.html).
Cecille Araneta, the Chinese-looking producer of Anghel ng Tahanan beauty contest insinuated by Mondee Datol as a scion of the wealthy Spanish-descended Aranetas in the Philippines, has popped out recently with the claim that she owns with Mondee the newly-established International Entertainment Company (IEC), a purported not-for-profit behind this year's ToM. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/05/is-iec-legit-nfp-org.html).
What's the score Cecille? Are you Araneta by blood or Araneta by the expedient of changing an old name and adopting one that sounds impressive and affluent? You see, the Araneta family I had contacted in Cubao, Quezon City still has not responded to my inquiries so maybe you can help in the spirit of transparency.
James Pasternak is up for reelection in the ward that includes Little Manila. Though his prospect of winning is almost certain, he seems to have no choice but to acquiesce to the demands of his constituency, thus his public display of warm friendship with the Trio Los Bonos Plus One.
Nothing wrong with being chummy, after all, he's the district's representative to the City Council, but it's hard to avoid the public perception that he tolerates their alleged spurious activities for political gain.
But back to Kabise. If he truly condemns wrongdoing, why did he not say a word about the stealing of images used in ToM's virtual presentations? (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).
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