What's Behind Fast Turnover of NFPs at ToM?

Volume 4, Issue No. 26

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, November 21, 2022 

~ Only the name has given a semblance of stability to the street festival. Everything else changes almost every passing year. Lately, a new not-for-profit (NFP) has appeared from nowhere, edging out another NFP that had barely warmed itself in the saddle. In the nine years - six in-person prior to the pandemic, two virtual, and one in-person again - since Taste of Manila became a full-fledged community event, its handlers came and went nearly without anyone noticing. There's PCCC, PLACA, PESO, IEC, and SPARC. What next? How about something like this . . . Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Pinoy sa Ontario-Toronto or SUPOT? 

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WHAT'S WRONG WITH TASTE OF MANILA?

For Every ToM A New NFP Org

Why Are Organizers So Fickle-Minded?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have". - Socrates

TORONTO - No matter how hard I tried to forget this breach committed under our noses by a bunch of video poachers, the sight of them gloating haunts me no end.

The footage stolen from my coverage continues to play on social media, and as long as it's there, the insult repeats itself one-, two-, three-dozen times at least, and then multiplied over as the number of people viewing it climbs.

The hijacked film clips mostly from the 2018 Taste of Manila (ToM) festival had been capitalized on, profitably, I suppose, to promote virtual presentations in 2020 and 2021 by people who are now at war with each other over the root of all evil - money. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3djfjNVR8Q.).

At least 25 commercial establishments and individuals had signed up as paying sponsors but the revenues collected from them were never disclosed. 

There were new and established Filipino talents, 15 of them recognizable from published photographs, who performed remotely, too. Were they compensated or given honorariums? (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/06/).

A former driver of the Philippine Consulate who now oozes with conceit in being addressed as chairman, president, CEO, amba, congen, consul, ad infinitum - Rolly Mangante alias "kabise" - is at the top of the steal with a retinue of willing enablers.

The group's in-house "documentary" titled "The History of Taste of Manila" supposedly by someone named "Grace" refers to him as "a known staff member of the Philippine Consulate Office in Toronto". (Full background story at: http://www.balita.ca/taste-of-manila-goes-distasteful-one-street-festival-and-three-financial-reports/).

Lest people mistook him again as a low-level diplomat, the answer is no! 

In truth, he was just a local hire and did not possess any form of authority. But people did not know; he appeared to be influential and looked the part by facilitating consular paperwork with the help of unknowing friends.

The alleged "documentary" fails for the exact reason documentaries are for, which is to present an objective, factual narration of events happening in an area like, for example, Little Manila, unofficially designated as such because it was the birthplace of ToM. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcZa99xeGW0).

The way it chronicled the existence and passage of the historical ToM and presented a burnished image of Mangante is a complete distortion of reality. I hope he's not cast as a god of Little Manila deserving a monument in the middle of the Bathurst-Wilson junction.

Evidently, the partially-identified writer relied not on facts but on fantastic claims by Mangante himself. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-glory-that-was-taste-of-manila.html).

ToM festival began to exist in 2014 through six years, with the coronavirus pandemic dealing it a death blow after its last staging in August 2019. A hybrid surfaced in 2020 and 2021 called "The Taste of Manila - Virtual Festival Presentation" obviously as a hedge against people forgetting ToM still existed.

For this venture, Mangante created a "Taste of Manila Inc." (ToMI) which he calls a "corporation". He has his family as "directors" including his wife Nieves, identified by an enamored publicist as "first lady" of ToM; and daughters Jacqueline and Roloves. By the way, when did he incorporate?

For every season of ToM, a new not-for-profit (NFP) organization would pop up. It is as if every NFP dies at the end of every event and a new one rises from its ashes.

In the 2020 and 2021 "virtuals", the NFP, or the "super saya" team, was the Philippine Events Services Ontario (PESO) headed by its president, Philip Beloso, the everywhere guy; Pepito Torralba (not related to Mon Torralba, the famous songwriter of Hotdog band fame, and wife Teresa), vice president; and a certain Jerome Peralta. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXqjO8AWUJ4).

Its production crew, according to Mangante, is composed of Cecille Araneta, chief of staff; Danasol Luna, marketing; a person identified only as Grace, administrative; Jim Torres, security; and chief adviser Mon Datol. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/international-journalist-in-taste-of.html)

For the planned ToM 2023, another not-for-profit, SPARC or Society of Philippine Artists, Recreation and Community led by Danilo "Sani" Baluyot, executive director, and realtor Rose Ami, has been contracted by Mangante. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ap92btLM8).

Knowledgeable sources claimed SPARC's appointment is generating controversy among players, notably Mangante's former partners Cecille Araneta and Mon Datol of the International Entertainment Company (IEC), the "tuloy ang saya" team, which managed this year's ToM.

Apparently, IEC resents SPARC, and blames Mangante for the fiasco and the alleged financial losses it incurred. That's the ostensible reason for the current blame game that could spiral into an expensive legal tangle.

So, what comes next after SPARC? Maybe a new NFP org again, something like a Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Pinoy sa Ontario-Toronto (SUPOT). Who would give it a try? (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).