Volume 4, Issue No. 59
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Friday, May 12, 2023
~ The whole confusion boils down to one thing: greed. Would it matter if one went to Little Manila on Aug. 19 or 20, and participate in the revelry unaware which organization was undertaking the event? This fighting between IEC and SPARC looks and sounds ridiculous were it not for the prospect of reaping tons of money from the street festival that may not actually happen this year. Taste of Manila is not even in the city's calendar of festivals and events.
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IS THE LAWSUIT THE REASON?
Taste of Manila Not in Calendar of Festivals
ToM Banner: Now You See It, Now You Don't
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"Every lawsuit results from somebody doing something wrong. If everybody did right, we wouldn't need laws". - Allan Dershowitz
TORONTO - The Taste of Manila festival is unlikely to happen because of conflicting claims by two not-for-profit (NFP) organizations to have the right to stage it, according to knowledgeable officials who did not want to be identified because they're not authorized to speak.
The two NFPs - International Entertainment Company (IEC) and Society of Philippine Artists, Recreation and Community (SPARC) - are on a war footing, their hostility towards each other caused by the alleged double-dealing by ToM self-proclaimed founder, Rolly Mangante aka kabise, a former driver of the Philippine Consulate.
Banners by IEC and SPARC displayed in selected stores in the Little Manila hub invite people to join the festival on August 19-20.
However, the event itself is not in the city's official festivals and events calendar. The only Filipino event listed there is Fun Philippines Toronto Street Festival on July 22-23.
If that is any indication at all, it is that ToM would not proceed as announced. The city which grants permits and licenses to organizers and vendors for the use of public facilities such as Bathurst St. and portions of Wilson Ave. - the very centre of Little Manila - would be hard-pressed to get involved in any litigation.
IEC contends it had the right to stage ToM for three successive years starting in August 2022 under a contract with Mangante. However, for this year and the next, Mangante has signed up with SPARC, which IEC says violated the existing contract. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ap92btLM8).
IEC then initiated a lawsuit against Mangante and SPARC. The lawsuit remains unresolved as of this writing. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/official-blames-tom-and-partners-for.html).
IEC's "allegations are denied," Mangante has said earlier in a press release. "We are vigorously defending this matter through legal representation," he said. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/tom-admits-to-uncertainty-of-holding.html).
In Little Manila, meanwhile, a smaller banner by IEC has been restored at the Salu Salo restaurant and grocery store on Wilson Ave. (see collage). At a corner store on Bathurst St. a few meters away, a second SPARC banner was already falling from its hook.
Is it a precursor to ToM's downfall? (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/02/is-interest-in-taste-of-manila-festival.html).
How much do organizers stand to gain in holding ToM? Why the big fight . . . for a cash cow? (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).
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