Mondee's Yarn Spun for His Protection

Volume 3, Issue No. 59

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 Tuesday, June 14, 2022 

~ The mindless talking head aka podcaster the Filipino community, unfortunately, has to live through appears to be a practitioner of spin, in fact, long enough to be called a spinmeister. It's a trait he shares in common with two of his colleagues - the fake festival founder and the fake "reporter". Together, they form the scandalous Trio Los Bobos. Their secret existence is a cautionary tale for Filipinos inured to swindling. 

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A CAUTIONARY TALE

 Mondee's Atrocious Spin of the Truth

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“He had just about enough intelligence to open his mouth when he wanted to eat, but certainly no more.” ― P.G. Wodehouse

TORONTO - A recent podcast by a sportswriter, supposedly, named Mon Datol alias Mondee, sounded like a Golden Retriever yapping hard either for want of food or to attract attention.

The animal - and I didn't mean Mondee - has the loudest bark among hounds and could summon immediate notice, which was what his podcast was all about, an outlet for baseless whispers, idle talk, and fishmongers.

Generally, podcasts are intended to entertain, therefore, the podcaster is basically an entertainer. So, no matter how Mondee packages himself, he is a carnival barker, an entertainer, a very bad one at that, who thrives on schoolboy humor.

I can't think of a Tagalog equivalent for the retriever. However, for our purposes, "asong ulol" would be a good substitute. Again, I don't mean Mondee is an "asong ulol". It's what he dishes out that resembles an "asong ulol".

What strikes when he talks and foams at the side of his wide mouth is the feeling of being back in the boondocks of his native province somewhere in Central Luzon. There he is an NPA, a non-performing asset too lazy to milk farm animals but too eager to do it on humans.

Tone, accent, and everything, he sounds unmistakably like a Mondee the promdi, profane and lacking urbanity. As many people know, promdi is an allusion to "from the province". (Listen to him talk at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).

That, I believe, explains why he's stuck in that Little Manila doghouse fancifully called studio he shares with two other members of his group, the Trio Los Bobos, namely, Rolly "Kabise" Mangante, and Dannasol Luna alias lovely (daw).

The three - Mondee, Kabise, and Lovely - control releasing information about a plan to stage a Taste of Manila (ToM) festival through a so-called not-for-profit headed by a Cecille Araneta who famously but ignorantly declared that the "national car" of the Philippines is the jeepney. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTnX700_a8).

Araneta is also one of two fat faces in the video stolen from The Filipino Web Channel, and manipulated to promote ToM. The other face belongs to Kabise's wife, Nieves Mangante, who I initially thought was Araneta's twin because of their physical features. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

The video steal has triggered this back and forth between the Trio Los Bobos and Araneta, on the one hand, and this reporter, on the other. The quartet has neither acknowledged, nor give credit, nor apologize, nor pay for the video footage purloined from past video coverage of ToM.

Mondee's woeful howl targeted this reporter, evidently as a reaction to a number of articles exposing the workings of his group in promoting ToM, which is being salvaged from death by bankruptcy, mismanagement, and COVID-19. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/05/is-iec-legit-nfp-org.html).

He falsely reasoned that because he was a media colleague, I should not be writing about him and his cohorts. Hey, Mondee, didn't you say this: "We deliver the truth. The truth will set you free"? Why are you now spinning lies and distortions?

Well, for the record, I never knew the man. He's outside of my league in the foreign press corps. That's where I earned my glorious keep (and I'm not boasting), yes, writing for a global audience in world capitals, and not for small barrios hardly recognizable on maps. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0AXXyPXaE).

The only time I heard that Mondee was a "journalist" was when a reporter, a real colleague, visiting from Manila exclaimed upon seeing him: "Nandito na pala yan."

"Why?" I asked. "Well, he's a notorious Manila collector," she explained. 

"You mean customs collector?" I wondered. "No, no," she stressed. "He's a collector, the AC-DC (attack collect-defend collect) kind prevalent among those reporting for some local tabloids".

I have no way of confirming what was told to me in private. Besides, I was out of the loop in Manila working with foreign correspondents and covering local events relevant abroad.

I suppose that all the time Mondee was busy being a "collector" I was there in any of the main focuses of foreign news coverage requiring deep backgrounding, namely, the presidential Malacanang Palace, Congress, the Department of National Defense, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. All others came in second.

Between myself and Mondee, an ocean of difference exists, especially in matters of work. As a journalist, I covered presidents, department secretaries, generals, and those in the upper echelons of government. 

In comparison, Mondee as "sportswriter" then and podcaster now, beguiles and amuses talking with barangay captains, barangay tanods, police patola and the like, and those below the food chain.

With his knowledge or lack of it, Mondee would never qualify for the kind of job I had. Quite easily, however, he's fit for what he is presently doing - talking senselessly until his throat gives up.

President Rodrigo Duterte has condemned these AC-DC types, calling them "extortionists, the vultures of journalism, the group that gets killed the most". He said: "They continue to ask for more and more because their greed has no limit".

From the time I heard about Mondee, I stayed away from him. Having finished my term as a foreign correspondent, I did not want to be identified with him. He disgusts me. The Trio Los Bobos disgusts me. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

Taste of Manila's In-House Talents

Volume 3, Issue No. 58

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 Thursday, June 9, 2022 

~ Ahead of their featured guests in the proposed Taste of Manila fest come in-house talents from the stable of a purported not-for-profit organization - the Trio Los Bobos. Not until recently did they surface from the foul-smelling crevices of Little Manila and launched their campaign to neutralize the impending ruination of the festival. They have an inborn flair for spreading disinformation, perhaps acquired from "The Lyin' King" himself, the ex-US president Donald J. Trump. It is another sign of desperation from whoever planned the streetfest.

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A TASTE OF MANILA FEATURE

The Trio Los Bobos of Little Manila

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“How could you argue sense into someone who believed something not because it was true, but because he was an idiot?” ― Lois McMaster

TORONTO - The usual refuge of scoundrels fleeing from reality is to brand critical stories about them "fake news". They don't challenge facts with facts. Instead, they becloud facts with farts, their own rotten hot air emissions released to make sure you are prevented another lookover.

On the whole, they don't clarify, they simply mouth the catchword "fake news," and think they've scored a hit. They dismiss the truth as "fake news" because it involves them; it unravels their secret agendas, it exposes them more than the fraudulent persona they paint themselves to be in public.

They resort to disinformation. which Merriam-Webster defines as "false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth".

Impugning one's reputation is an old trick designed to cast doubt on the integrity and credibility of an individual. In my case, it's a question that deeply tears into my person. It assaults the only professional career I've known all my adult life - as a journalist sworn to tell the truth. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vcuamfGCI).

I would never compromise, and never have compromised, myself and the prestige of having been a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for a fiddling sum of money this trio of talking heads, namely Ramon Datol alias Mondee, Rolly Mangante, and Dannasol Luna aka Lovely, are spreading.

These three have nothing to crow about professionally, except to parrot rumors on social media, and echo innuendoes against persons they dislike. They thrive on gossip and misinformation, which is perhaps why they located themselves in Little Manila, the very nerve centre of the gossiping world.

"Fake news" is what they are all about. It's their home. Consider the following: 

Rolly Mangante, nicknamed "kabise," is the embodiment of fake. So is Ramon Datol alias Mondee. So is Dannasol Luna aka Lovely. For some reason, Cecille Araneta of the jeep as "national car of the Philippines" fame has dissociated herself from the trio. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTnX700_a8).

Mangante takes extreme delight in being called "amba" for ambassador, "congen" for consul general, chairman, and president. In reality, the guy is a chauffeur in French, driver in English, and "drayber" in Tagalog. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZeQk-wySXY).

Many times, he was mistaken for the real consul general, which he put to good use by facilitating - for a fee that goes to his pocket - paperwork for applicants at the Philippine Consulate on Eglinton Ave. where he had access because of his status as a local employee. 

Mangante was so confident about this access that he put up a fingerprint and passport photo office on Wilson Ave., not far from Bathurst St. I was there when he bragged about it. I even took pictures of him posing beside a vertical banner.

Ramon Datol, renowned among Filipino caregivers for his exploitative "Anghel ng Tahanan" beauty contest, is the abortive "mayor Mondee" of Richmond Hill before that town became a city. Friends told me his campaign was money-driven, meaning he was in the electoral contest for a quick buck.

Indeed, after his highly-anticipated loss, he took off for a grand vacation somewhere in Europe using the money he raised from his candidacy. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).

Mondee has passed himself off as a "sportswriter". Reading his articles published in the now-defunct rag called Philippine Courier, I must admit that his writing ability has never advanced from his hillbilly days in Nueva Ecija. 

I believe that's the reason he's now in podcasting. Even as he talks endlessly and senselessly, he still has an audience of about one-to-three people who I presume must be Mangante, Luna, and Araneta.

Dannasol Luna aka Lovely is very much comfortable with "fake news". She knew the ins and outs. From her photograph posted on Facebook, she claims to be a "journalist" certified and accredited by the Miami, Florida-based "International Association of Press Photographers Inc." 

Incidentally, why is she called lovely? What's lovely about her? Her stiletto shoes?

If what the "press card" purports to show is true, why does she write like an elementary pupil assigned to do an essay on, for example, the secrets of pretending someone you are not?

I was expecting to see her at the PIDC parade on Saturday, June 4, but she wasn't there. I can only surmise that she must be in bed, oops, I mean embedded, with some macho-looking Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Careful.

I hope to read her account of the war, if she's there, of course, and not the type of composition I read somewhere that bastardizes the English language. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

Antics to Revive Taste of Manila Festival

 Volume 3, Issue No. 57

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 Wednesday, June 8, 2022 

~ The Filipino community continues to be regaled by serious-looking individuals doing all kinds of antics to grab attention. Comedians they are not but the manner they conduct themselves invariably makes us chuckle, which is the polite way to describe it so as not to be offensive. At its heart, however, is the desperation evident in their every move to revive a dead horse, so to speak. 

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DID THEY SNEAK INTO THE PIDC PARADE?

Cheerleaders of Taste of Manila: A Pathetic Bunch

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Every lame horse dreams of being Pegasus.” ― Marty Rubin

TORONTO - A bunch of cheerleaders descended on Earl Bales Park in North York and marched with the participants in the short walk around the greenery where the spearhead, the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), had set up its encampment.

The parade was called as the program was progressing towards the end of the whole-day picnic PIDC had organized on Saturday, June 4, to celebrate the return of its annual "salo-salo" and the observance of Filipino Heritage Month in Canada. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwLwcPe-CaA).

The cheering squad bearing a small Taste of Manila (ToM) banner stood out in the crowd for being just there, trying to be cute in their green shirts, and doing nothing worthwhile to enhance the first outdoor, in-person get-together by the Filipino community.

Obviously, their presence was to promote the moribund ToM, which for six years prior to the pandemic had been the go-to street festival in the Greater Toronto Area. At the height of its success, ToM went bankrupt due to many factors, including mismanagement by inexperienced officers and alleged corruption by some.

What ToM had been as the biggest crowd-getter from 2014 through 2019 has now reduced itself to being an attention-grabber. This role played out well in the brief PIDC parade. All fired up, the cheerleaders swayed, shrieked, and waved, their faces nearly unrecognizable in their large sunglasses and oversized hats.

Perhaps it's a vivid illustration of what ails ToM and the spurious not-for-profit IEC (International Entertainment Company) that promotes itself as the new organizers for the festival proposed to be held sometime in August. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/05/is-iec-legit-nfp-org.html).

Even as they go around mouthing "tuloy ang saya" (roughly, the fun continues), there's no concrete guarantee it would. It has yet to make a public showing of its program, guests, and corporate and individual sponsors.

ToM's latest setback was the "cease and desist" order by city authorities stopping ToM from using Toronto's corporate logo on ToM posters and website, understandably so as it conveys the impression the City officially endorses the planned festival when in fact, it "is not providing financial support to the Taste of Manila." (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/05/taste-of-manila-organizers-get-warning.html).

As pathetic-looking as the cheerleaders were, was the flimsy gazebo-like ToM booth located so far out of the main expanse, almost unnoticeable except for the two unidentified souls taking shelter from the blistering sun. (See collage).

If IEC projects ToM to be big again, why would it participate in a competitive event - to get noticed, to steal the crowd, to recruit sponsors, to make a show of stupidity? The answer is all of the above. The lack of confidence in its own street festival is crystal clear.

Its presence at PIDC only illustrates the desperation the IEC headed by a certain Cecille Araneta is willing to take to move ToM from relative obscurity to mainstream attention again. By the way, she's the same person who wrongly and ignorantly told an interviewer that the war relic vehicle jeepney is "the national car of the Philippines." (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTnX700_a8).

I was tempted to make an example of a recent pronouncement by an IEC partner named Mondee, aka Mon Datol, who said something moronic about copyright after his group was confronted for stealing copyrighted film footage from The Filipino Web Channel. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

He defended the steal in this wise, but it's better to hear it from the horse's mouth, as the saying goes, so here it is at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU starting at the 2:06 mark.

At Earl Bales Park, I shot videos of everyone and every organization, including the ToM contingent. Now, if I follow Mondee's fatuous wisecrack, I needed to ask each individual in those videos permission so I can upload them on my YouTube channel.

Is this what Mondee wants? But Rolly Mangante, the claimant as ToM founder who is apparently his boss, was nowhere in sight. By Mondee's flawed reasoning, I had to have Mangante's approval for an upload because he supposedly owned the copyright for everything about ToM. It's preposterous.

The cheering squad must have been looking for the videos I took of them during the parade. Sorry guys and dolls, those will not see the light of day on my channel. 

However, if you persist in your asinine behaviour and show yourselves in your jumbled best, I might reconsider. After all, we need a laugh or two in these times. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

The Party That Showed Filipino Resilience

 Volume 3, Issue No. 56

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, June 6, 2022 

~ The Filipino community had a party this sunny day of Saturday, June 4, in a big demonstration of resilience in the face of a pandemic. Singing, dancing, and chatting endlessly over plates of Filipino food, and laughing to their heart's content appeared to signal the end of two and half years of physical and social isolation. The Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), in its observance of Filipino Heritage Month, was, in effect, the first Filipino organization in Toronto to bring back the fun in community gatherings.

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PICNIC AND SALO-SALO AT THE PARK

PIDC Bursts the Bubble, Brings Back the Fun

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things". - François de La Rochefoucauld

TORONTO - That Saturday afternoon? That was a blast!

For two and a half years, the bubble of health restrictions that had cloaked and choked us ended with a bang, and what a bang it was as revelers went out of their homes, trekked to the park, shared meals, and renewed camaraderie with friends long unseen.

Not only that. They also sang and danced to their heart's content, as if to say that we're reclaiming the world that had always been ours but stolen away by the coronavirus pandemic. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrUnjDshy8g).

For a long while, the health mantra was clear: six feet apart or six feet under. There laid the implicit warning to take precautions, the most prohibitive being physical distancing and isolation, or suffer the consequences that could lead to extinction.

Those who had entertained doubts about the means of conquering the virus went down with their beliefs and therefore fell under the second option.

"Six feet apart" was the sensible, rational choice for many though it meant staying away from basic face-to-face interaction with anyone outside the immediate family. 

Time, plus gentle health reminders such as frequent hand washing, masking up, and the great advances in medical technology, proved its efficacy.

Well, this Saturday, June 4, 2022, the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) led by its president, Agnes P. Miranda, just poked the bubble, giving way to a spontaneous burst of unspent energy. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwLwcPe-CaA).

Singing, dancing, eating, and endless chatting and laughter in between, was the order of the day at PIDC's "picnic at salo-salo" at Earl Bales Park. If food was plentiful, so were the many ounces of goodwill that PIDC had rekindled just by having the gathering.

I went, not for the food (disclosure: I did partake of the pancit from Republika restaurant because it was so irresistible and so good), but to witness how a significant part of the Filipino community had managed to cope after all these months of uncertainty.

People say Filipinos are resilient. It's true and the proof was happening before my eyes. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0AV0pGy5Gs).

At the picnic, many people passively did their thing under the shade of maple and oak trees, throwing all caution to the wind, not so much as to tempt fate, but to share their happiness at being survivors.

The crowd size didn't seem to matter. Dozens, hundreds, thousands - who cared? At this moment, the counting was inconsequential. What was significant was the eclectic energy that animated everyone! (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

The Spring and Summer of Fun in Toronto

Volume 3, Issue No. 55

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 Thursday, June 2, 2022 

~ By the looks of it, normalcy has returned to the Greater Toronto Area. The Filipino community is partying again two and half years after being physically and socially isolated, and some quarantined, because of the pandemic. An abundance of food, lots of entertainment, and face-to-face interactions are in store for everyone as spring fades into summer in Canada's largest city. 

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SEASON FOR FUN AND FROLIC

Filipinos Gear for Picnics, Entertainment

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Life is a celebration. Consider everything that makes you happy as a gift from God and say, 'Thank you'.” ― Francis Lucille

TORONTO - In just a little over two weeks before summer kicks in, Filipino organizations are all ready to put their best foot forward in celebration of a return to normalcy that the pandemic had interrupted in the last two years and a half.

This weekend alone, specifically on Saturday, June 4, the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) goes back to Earl Bales Park, its traditional venue for day-long picnics in the city's North York district, to mark the 124th anniversary of Philippine independence from Spain and commemorate Filipino Heritage Month.

On Sunday, June 5, the Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) holds its "Pistahan 2022" with the promise of food, games and entertainment at its home base in Scarborough. 

Despite its urging to "join us", FCT appears unwelcoming, its invitation perfunctory as indicated by the announcement that more information is available only by phone or by email.

On June 12, a Sunday, the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF) will have its "Pinoy Fiesta & Trade Show" at Albert Campbell Square in Scarborough. It offers free admission to celebrate Philippine culture.

By the first month of summer, that's on July 23 and 24, the FUN Philippines street festival takes over Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave., the core junction of Little Manila, for its "summer weekend of food and cultural adventure".

FUN Philippines under PLACA (Philippine Legacy & Cultural Alliance) enjoins the community to "Eat. Engage, Experience. Enjoy!" in what it claims to be "the biggest Filipino street party" in Toronto.

Nathan Phillips Square, itself a major tourist destination in downtown Toronto, is the site of PIDC's Mabuhay Philippines Festival, which is touted as "the largest celebration of Philippine heritage and culture in Canada" on August 13 and 14. It'll be PIDC's second community event this year.

If plans do not miscarry, and if it continues to abide by the rules and be transparent, a Taste of Manila festival will materialize in Little Manila on August 20-21 under the auspices of IEC, a purported not-for-profit org run by newbies and oldies of Little Manila. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).