Volume 6, Issue No. 21
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Thursday, December 19, 2024
~ The shame is notable in their implicit denial of a very public wrongdoing committed in the name of money and a perception of power. Organizers of the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival, which ended its 2024 run in August, felt they had the authority to levy some form of tax, euphemistically called "donation," on hapless merchants and when they refused, they erected a steel barrier blocking passage to their establishments. Of the dozens of photos posted on social media, not one showed ToM's monument to its greed.
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'KABISE,' TASTE OF MANILA and S.P.A.R.C.
The Days They Went Rogue
Just the Same, 'Golden Balangay' Enabled Him
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
TORONTO - Of the dozens of pictures that had flooded social media after the Taste of Manila (ToM) festival in August, none showed how ToM organizers had tried allegedly to extort money from onsite establishments which had declined to pay up fees normally charge booth renters.
For two days (Aug. 17-18), the premises facing the main road had been fenced off, apparently to prevent revelers and shoppers from accessing the five businesses along a portion of the main festival ground on Bathurst St.
In photos posted on Facebook by the shady Society of Philippine (con?) Artists, Recreation and Community (SPARC), the ToM organizers for this event, it is evident they edged out the establishments with a massive steel fence. (See video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btf2yoU4AaE).
Had not Jonathan Mayor Pecpec, owner of Pinoy Haircutters, spoken about it, the tactic by SPARC and ToM headed by Rolly "kabise" Mangante to force compliance with their alleged demand for money would not have been noticed.
"It's plain and simple extortion," said one business owner who requested anonymity for fear upsetting friends in SPARC and ToM who are involved in the attempted fleecing.
Jonathan said he was willing to give money to the festival organizers if he can afford it. He did not specify an amount.
He explained in Tagalog: "Bakit nila sinaraduhan? So, kailangan siguro nila . . . humihingi sila ng pera para buksan yung harap ko. Wala namang lumapit sa akin, paano ang gagawin ko? Kung nagsabi sila, kung kaya magbibigay ako."
From photos on their websites and on social media accounts, SPARC and ToM ostensibly knew what they did. By not publishing images where the steel fence would be shown, they impliedly admitted their misdeeds.
However, one picture that escaped notice was the one of Jusko Dai snack bar booth across from Pinoy Haircutters where the edge of the fence was visible.
The intent to hide the wrongdoing was obvious. In fact, the posting of the SPARC and ToM pictures came very much later, perhaps when they thought it was safe to do so.
So instead of the event getting exposure, the organizers had their photos with politicians, mostly from the Liberal caucus, who all seemed oblivious to the illegal money-making scheme allegedly by unnamed SPARC and ToM officials.
Some ranking ToM officials hunger for publicity any way they can. They love to see their smiling faces either in print or online in the company of important people. (Related story: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/official-blames-tom-and-partners-for.html).
Some are notorious for stealing digital photos and videos, their action spurred by a statement by ToM's alleged founder Rolly Mangante (related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKKviJ2tEn4) and validated by an inexperienced podcaster's moronic declaration. (Related video at 2:06 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).
Stealing film footage from The Filipino Web Channel was not the first time ToM had engaged in wrongdoing.
In August 2020, Mangante plagiarized (does he even know its meaning?) a statement from Paola Devescovi, an internet entrepreneur and personal brand expert, and made it looked like his.
Posted on an earlier ToM website, he supposedly said: "It doesn’t take a miracle to make dreams come true. It takes a clearly detailed written vision to begin with. However, a vision with a plan, will become reality".
How in the world could Mangante compose such meaningful sentences knowing that he could murder the English language and not feel any guilt? (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/virtual-or-visual-for-2020-filipino.html).
Of course, the quotation is not Mangante's. It was Paola Devescovi's whose original copy reads: "It doesn’t take a miracle to make dreams come true. It takes a clearly detailed written vision to begin with. However a vision without a plan, will never become reality. It will remain a dream, a wish".
The latest enabler of Mangante is the Golden Balangay Foundation which gave him its "Community Service Award." It supposedly recognizes an individual who, hold your breath, " . . . serves as a role model for compassion, dedication and service."
(Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-folly-of-community-service-award.html)
I initially thought it was a joke. But then I realize it was an insult to those who passionately served the community without expectation of reaping money from the very public he was serving.
One just have to listen to Mangante's foremost defender at that time, Ramon Datol alias Mondee, to know what values Mangante possesses. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGVqgszwyYA) and full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2024/11/podcaster-laments-loss-of-cash-cow.html).
What Mondee says is one rare admission of the truth he saw and experienced collaborating with Mangante. (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
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