Volume 4, Issue No. 54
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Friday, March 24, 2023
~ By far, the unplanned chat with IEC owner Cecile Araneta yesterday revealed the number and identities of people suspected of having a hand in the stealing of film footage from The Filipino Web Channel. She named at least five associated with the holding of virtual Taste of Manila in 2020 and 2021, among them Rolly Mangante, Philip Beloso, Pepito Torralba, Jerome Peralta, and fake "international reporter" Dannasol Luna.
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CHANCE MEETING WITH I.E.C.'s CECILE ARANETA
At Least 5 People in ToM Named in Video Steal
The Revelation Comes In The Wake of a Lawsuit
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"Half of the people lie with their lips; the other half with their tears". - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
TORONTO - A chance meeting yesterday (Thursday, March 23) proved useful in clarifying many things about Taste of Manila (ToM) festival, its self-declared founder Rolly "kabise" Mangante, and his associates in the persons of Pepito Torralba (no relation to the upright couple Mon and Teresa Torralba), Philip Beloso, Dannasol Luna and her brother, and a certain Jerome Peralta, among others.
For months my contact with people I believed were responsible for stealing footage of my videos was through emissaries because no one had the gumption and courage to face me in person.
Look, they had the audacity to steal to promote themselves and ToM but are chickenhearted to man up to their misdeed.
FV Foods owner Mel Galeon was having a despedida party for Consul General Orontes V. Castro at his store in Scarborough and in came one of the invitees, Cecile Araneta, owner of the purported not-for-profit International Entertainment Company (IEC).
Her partner in IEC, Ramon Datol aka Mondee, has insinuated in one of his unbrilliant moments that Cecile was a scion of the ultra-rich Araneta family that owns the famous Araneta Coliseum and the 35-hectare Araneta City in Cubao, Quezon City. She neither denies nor confirms this claim. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/06/whats-in-name-is-araneta-araneta.html).
One not to let go of an opportunity to talk, I walked up to her and peppered her with questions. She appeared forthcoming, answered my inquiries except those involving her IEC's lawsuit against ToM, Mangante and his new contractor, SPARC (Society of Philippine Artists, Recreation and Community). (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/taste-of-manila-scored-for-false.html).
IEC was previously Mangante's partner, at least for the August 2022 edition of ToM where Cecile Araneta apparently lost a huge sum of money that went to the payment of royalty to ToM. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/volume-4-issue-no.html).
According to her, IEC came into existence only in March 2022, a good two years after another dubious not-for-profit called PESO (Philippine Event Services Ontario) headed by Philip Beloso staged virtual ToM festivals because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/02/virtual-taste-of-manila-fests-duped.html).
Araneta was practically distancing herself and her IEC from PESO, Beloso, and Mangante who she blames for stealing film footage from videos running at The Filipino Web Channel. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-avarice-of-festival-organizers.html).
Yet her image and that of Mangante's wife Nieves Mangante appearing side by side were manipulated and spliced to make it look like they were part of the news coverage. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).
Araneta also clarified that Dannasol Luna, the fake "international reporter", had nothing to do with IEC. "She had nowhere to go so she hanged out with us," she explains in Tagalog. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/international-journalist-in-taste-of.html).
It was Luna's brother, she said, who manipulated the video in his suspicious studio named lunatronix, which describes itself as "Your friendly All-in-One Stop Shop Services Neighborhood Company". This studio is unreachable online and in-person.
Araneta recalled Mangante telling her that it was justified to take film footage of the ToM coverage from The Filipino Web Channel because he allegedly "paid" for the videos.
Well, this is not the first time that Mangante lied; the first big lie he has successfully floated was his claim that he founded ToM. In truth, he stole the idea from the Philippine Consulate where he had worked as a driver.
Another justification for the steal was what Dannasol Luna had said to her that she "apologized" for what had happened to the videos. "She told me that she approached you during the press conference in April 2022 and said sorry," Araneta says.
Part of it was true - that I was at the press conference and confronted them for stealing, which Ramon Datol sidestepped by saying there was none because the copyright for ToM news coverage belonged to Mangante. That was preposterous.
Dannasol Luna indeed approached me while I was filming and whatever she thought and mumbled to herself as an apology never reached my ear. It was simply an excuse to absolve herself, her brother, PESO, Mangante, Beloso, and Torralba of any guilt. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).
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