Volume 6, Issue No. 10
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
Our latest as of Monday, September 16, 2024
~ The summer has kicked off a wide assortment of events, some funded in whole or in part by federal, provincial and municipal governments, to promote the heritage and culture of the different ethnic minorities. In the Filipino community, festivals are a dime a dozen, and are marketed, ostensibly, as a service to its people. But the truth is that they're driven by money and the potential to gain tons and tons of it. The Taste of Manila (ToM) festival is a standout in this regard.
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ENTERTAINMENT GALORE
Money, Not Service, Drives Local Events
Summer Saw All Kinds of Community Happenings
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
TORONTO - At the beginning we're regaled with words sugared with plans to benefit the community and improve the well-being of those in dire need of help.
Many associations thrive on this ploy and wrap themselves in some form of government protection, for example, by registering as a non-profit, or as a charitable organization, or as a foundation.
Left unsaid, of course, is the driving force behind the purported civic-mindedness - money, and the potential to earn lots of it.
"When people are driven by greed," says an essay on money, "they will do whatever it takes to acquire more money, even if it means stepping on others or engaging in unethical behavior."
Reading that excerpt reminds me of the recent Taste of Manila (ToM) festival and what it did to hapless storeowners who were physically isolated from their customers by a steel fence that ran from end to end of their storefronts.
That essay also leads me to other organizations that thrive on misleading the Filipino community with lofty projects, bountiful prizes, and other imaginative etceteras, which are at best theoretical. One fine example is the spectacle that happened in Brampton.
Seducing the public and prospective sponsors with high-impact proposals, for example, building a basketball court, or a sitting room for seniors, or an all-expenses-paid round trip to Mars, seems to be part of the strategy to win support.
A representative example that comes to mind is the plan - it sounds so fanciful - to build a community centre presented by a nascent Taste of Manila in July 2014 through its alleged founder, Rolly "kabise" Mangante.
It's to his credit that Mangante, a former driver at the Philippine Consulate, could dream big, could get public approval, could recruit believers, could enlist politicians, could transform fantasy to reality to what we know as Taste of Manila (ToM) festival.
Heck, he's got the balls, man. His Canadian dream is a dream come true, especially with ToM recovering from its dire straits in 2018 to becoming a cash cow today.
Not only that, he has risen from a life of obscurity behind the wheel to unforeseen prominence. He's now "Tito Rolly" to politicians. Isn't that remarkable?
Well, being "Tito Rolly" to all could bloat one's ego. Feeling powerful because of ToM, he could command obedience. Unethical, illegal, or whatnot, he demands compliance.
(Related story:
That's what happened to my footage of several ToM events. He had the gumption to steal videos and photos to suit his agenda, promote his wife, friends, and partners. And his underlings simply follow.
(Related story:
Related videos:
For someone and something still aborning, it's easy to understand. The concept of ToM was being peddled by Mangante who delighted in being mistaken for a consul, which was never true, and teased as "amba" for ambassador, which, for heaven's sake, would never ever happen or the Philippine foreign service would have gone to the dogs.
The wisecrack only multiplied his appetite for recognition. And ToM was his validation. Unwittingly, my videos at The Filipino Web Channel gave evidence to his claim. He admits using them to promote ToM as far as Manila.
(See video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcs34cnA2bs at the 1:06 mark).
Ten years in the making and counting, the community centre Mangante had declared would be ToM's offering to the Filipino community appears to have been forgotten even as ToM continues to reap windfall after windfall staging the festival.
If reports are to be believed, ToM netted handsomely for both Mangante and his chosen managers, the con artists, oops, sorry, I mean the Society of Philippine Artists, Recreation and Community (SPARC).
I take Mangante's words in Tagalog: "Eto at makikita naman natin na ito'y transparent. Wala po tayong tinatago at nakalantad po yan." (Roughly in English: You can see we're transparent. We have nothing to hide." Watch video The Unredeemed Promise of Taste of Manila; Is the Money Gone? at the 0:32 mark).
Transparent? Yeah right. Indeed there's no indication any ToM official reacted to a complaint on why ToM erected a fence to impede human traffic at the site of five establishments on Bathurst St. during the Aug. 17-18 festival.
I interviewed some vendors in Little Manila for this story who told me that Mangante put the blame on unnamed SPARC officials for installing the steel fence. Lawyer friends said the construct was illegal for many reasons.
It seems Mangante is deflecting. In 2023, vendors complained to me that he had threatened to block their store fronts if they did not comply with his demand for a "donation."
The vendors deemed it was an "extortion," a flat-out shakedown. Why would they donate to ToM when they need not have booths because their stores are right where the festival takes place?
"Money can make people pretty evil," says one of the survivors in this movie series on Netflix entitled Outlast. The statement invigorated me to write this article.
The Socratic Method is even more profound: "Some view money as a means of security and comfort, whereas others perceive it as a source of power, status, or even self-worth." (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
