Volume 4, Issue No. 35
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Monday, December 26, 2022
~ The bad things some people are willing to do are unraveling piece by piece in the very core of the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival. Not quite settled yet post-pandemic, ToM's supposed point man in the Philippine capital - its alleged "chief PR & political affairs" - is denouncing ToM organizers for using his name and picture to underline his purported "appointment" without his consent. This is not surprising as ToM has also stolen film footage to market the festival.
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STEALING FOOTAGE IS NOT ENOUGH
'Chief PR' Condemns ToM's Stunt
'They're Using Me,' Says Man in Manila
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"The outside doesn't always match the inside". - Rebekah Crane
TORONTO - Stealing film footage did not seem enough for several individuals connected with the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival; they had to resort to something else just as egregious.
In order to look good, and keep the appearance of being outstanding, organizers have put out a website documenting their thievery on a scale unparalleled in community associations. Perhaps the realization that it was unlawful has not dawned on them.
Or, maybe they were banking on the possibility that nobody would care to look into it with such a minute scrutiny as the one this journalist and some friends are undertaking to flush out the culprits.
ToM's supposed point man in the Philippine capital Manila, identified on the website as Michael Salvador, has complained against his inclusion in the online portal.
Apparently, he had not been advised, nor his consent sought, to the use of his photo, name, and designation as "chief PR & political affairs".
"Dapat tangalin nila yan kasi di ko naman alam yan at masama pa ako sa kaso," he writes in Tagalog on a Facebook post. (They should remove it because I might be dragged into the case).
"Wala silang consent sa akin," he explains when informed of his alleged "appointment" as ToM's "chief PR & political affairs". (They have no consent from me).
"No, I did not know this. They are using my name," Salvador tells a friend in Toronto who had notified him about the developments in ToM.
The "case" Salvador had adverted to is the petition for injunction the International Entertainment Company (IEC) of Cecille Araneta and Ramon Datol has filed in Superior Court against ToM alleged founder Rolly Mangante, ToM, and new partner SPARC (Society of Philippine Artists, Recreation and Community).
The IEC is asking the court to stop SPARC from staging the ToM festival in August 2023 allegedly because of Mangante's breaching of his three-year contract with IEC.
The suit followed the signing of an agreement between Mangante and SPARC to undertake next year's ToM. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/volume-4-issue-no.html).
SPARC is headed by Danilo Baluyot and realtor Rose Ami aka Rosemarie Ami-Seaborn, the self-identified online troll who hides behind the pseudonym Marites Tolits. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-avarice-of-festival-organizers.html).
At least three organizations appear to be complicit in ToM's questionable activities, namely, the Taste of Manila Production (TMP) of Mangante and family; the Philippine Events Services Ontario (PESO) of Philip Beloso, Pepito Torralba (no relation to the renown Torralba couple Ramon of Hotdog fame and wife Teresa), and Jerome Peralta; and the IEC of Araneta, Datol, and Dannasol Luna.
Under those purported not-for-profit organizations are what may be referred to as sub-contractors. One example is the digital outfit called "Lunatronix Studios" and its principals all surnamed Luna who, we are told, are brothers of fake "reporter" Dannasol Luna.
There's also the so-called TOMz Radio, some of whose corporate officers and members of the creative team are the same people belonging to IEC like Araneta, Datol, Mangante, and Ian Santillan, and Grace "JuGee" Pammit.
In her LinkedIn profile, Pammit said she was a "former entertainment/lifestyle writer" for the Philippine Courier, Datol's now-defunct entertainment tabloid. She said that she was also a "co-host" of an obscure radio program by Datol.
This bolsters my belief that she's the partially-identified "Grace" who authored the largely concocted "The History of the Taste of Manila" on ToM's website. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-revisionist-within-taste-of-manila.html).
The ToM street festival dominated the Filipino community's summer events from August 2014 to 2019. The pandemic effectively ended its six-year run.
The alleged not-for-profit PESO led by Philip Beloso and Pepito Torralba had revived it through virtual presentations in 2020 and 2021. In August 2022, another not-for-profit, the IEC of Araneta and Datol, staged its version of ToM in contract with Mangante.
ToM appears to be the central figure in the interlocking interests of several individuals who are either officers or members of at least three organizations whose coming into existence is questionable. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).
Magaling pala sa mga gimmick ang mga kawatan diyan sa Taste of Manila.
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