Filipino Web Magazine

Wednesday, 13 April 2022

'Praise' Gaggle by 2022 Taste of Manila Organizers

Volume 3, Issue No. 43

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, April 13, 2022

~ The moment I walked into this press conference called at a Filipino restaurant in North York, I knew it would be a friendly, kiss-ass event to promote personalities more than the planned staging of a new Taste of Manila festival. Despite my misgivings, I went just the same. I wanted to see the people behind the project and inquire why at this point when they're trying to win the trust and confidence of the community, they already engaged in stealing somebody else's intellectual property to promote themselves.

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PROPOSED TASTE OF MANILA 2022

ToM's News Conference for 'Praise Media'

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Stop giving meaningless praise and start giving meaningful action.” ― Steve Maraboli

TORONTO - One of the new organizers of a new Taste of Manila (ToM) festival described the Sunday afternoon meeting they had earlier called at this restaurant as a "soft announcement" of what they believed would be this year's ToM at the same east-west, north-south street junction in North York's Little Manila.

"Soft" turned up to be an accurate depiction of what unfolded nearly half an hour past the schedule, not unusual in Filipino events where tardiness is a virtue rather than an unsound habit that must be completely expelled from the subconscious.

From the list of invited guests, none could be construed as journalists in the strictest sense of the word. Obviously, most of them belong to that distinct group of "praise media," i.e. not the legitimate press even as this assembly was billed as a "press conference". I suspect some of them belong to PPCO, that social club I labeled Philippine Praise Club Ontario.

I was a bit surprised that I got invited, although I felt that my presence was unwelcome, having written unpleasant articles and equally unflattering videos of the men and women behind this latest attempt to resuscitate a bankrupt ToM.

Knowing who these people are and the questionable reputation that precedes each one of them, I have very little confidence that ToM 2022 would take off despite the enormous amount of optimism oozing out of the organizers and the cheering "praise media" who I believe had been invited just to applaud at every turn.

I wondered why this character garbed in a Leni pink (meaning the election campaign color of Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo) jacket was allowed to speak and ask questions. I suppose he must be a member of the cheering squad that clapped and yelled when other members would ask the usual softies.

I knew this guy. He is the same fellow accused of attempting to rape a local broadcaster in a hotel room, and an active member of a so-called "elite" gang pursuing a dubious crusade to weed out scammers in the Filipino community. Oh well, what can one expect from this new group? (Full story at: https://www.balita.ca/by-a-so-called-community-leader-filipino-woman-reporter-bares-sexual-assault/).

Anyway, once the soft questions - planted, I believe - had been asked and gleefully answered, I notified the moderator of my intention. Somebody handed me the microphone and I inquired about ToM, its finances, and why it stole film footage from my videos. (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/new-org-eyes-holding-taste-of-manila.html).

The uneasiness was noticeable the moment I asked: If you had the money, why can't you pay for the film footage that your organization appropriated from my copyrighted videos of past ToM events without my knowledge and consent? They were caught unawares.

Cecille Araneta, allegedly the head of a not-for-profit, managed a nervous smile and passed on the microphone, not wanting to take part. She was feigning ignorance, yet it was the image of her and her equally chubby friend Nieves Mangante's moon face, that was superimposed on one of the film footage that made it appear they were there in the 2018 ToM.

The original photo (above) from my coverage of 2018 Taste of Manila festival and the stolen photo (below) manipulated and spliced with the image of two women who look alike in shape and form. Watch video from where photo was lifted, manipulated, and loaded onto the virtual presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPwILICgLr0

Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak, the event's guest, squirmed in his seat. Rolly Mangante, the self-proclaimed ToM founder, grinned. The microphone went past Pepito Torralba and Danna Luna, both ToM functionaries, and finally reached Ramon Datol, a ToM official, who responded with his pathetic nonsense. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).

What Datol spewed by way of explanation is a combination of hot air and gibberish. He probably thought he was speaking before an audience of illiterate yes-men and women who barely understood what stealing and copyright mean.

His defense of the act of stealing is insightful and should be cause for worry for those who are blindly supporting the new ToM. Again, if they could steal film footage without shame, what more of monies coming from sponsors and vendors?

My emphasis on new is to separate this present project by Araneta, Datol et al. in all shapes and forms from the original ToM that had reigned supreme for six years, from August 2014 to August 2019, and had been managed in succession by three different organizations.

ToM had been the centre of instability from the day it was publicly bared. Its concept had been discussed lengthily between then Philippine consul general Pedro Chan and the former Toronto police chief Bill Blair. Without authority and official standing, Rolly Mangante, the driver of the consulate, sat in during the discussion. Later, Mangante claimed he founded ToM.

At its inception in 2014, ToM officials had already shown how they viewed the street festival. Money, the prospect of accumulating huge sums of it, had been the engine that drove them to snipe against each other.

As a matter of fact, rivalry, envy, jealousy, and greed became a constant source of irritation. One official got so hung up with his business competition and was eventually thrown out of ToM. Another absconded to the Philippines with an undetermined amount of money and never returned.

Even Mangante is alleged to have pocketed at least $40,000 paid by a sponsor and reportedly treated his family to a lavish vacation in the Philippines. Neither Mangante nor the sponsor would confirm or deny this allegation.

The relatively unknown officials saw ToM as a means to raise their profiles as community leaders; some felt entitled to promote their respective businesses in the area; some took advantage and capitalized on it to boost their political stock.

The real thrust, supposedly, which was to enhance the Filipino community, had been an incidental consequence of the gathering, understandably so because most Filipino organizations fleeced the community through an elaborate scheme of pay-as-you-enter kind of entertainment.

At this point in the effort to revive ToM, some of its officials have already been slapped with a lawsuit, according to informants. The report is still raw and has not been verified as of this writing. (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

Monday, 11 April 2022

New Org Eyes Holding Taste of Manila 2022

Volume 3, Issue No. 42

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Monday, April 11, 2022

~ The clarity I was seeking got murkier as one of the supposedly "leading lights" of this newly-established not-for-profit organization almost choked in the nonsense that flowed out of his mouth yesterday (Sunday, April 10) at a press conference local media practically boycotted. The white knight of lonesome Filipino caregivers spouted his views on copyright and defended the act of stealing intellectual property.

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AN IGNORAMUS' GEM

The Twisted Logic of a Taste of Manila Official

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"The person who admits ignorance shows it once; the one who tries to hide it shows it often". - Proverb

TORONTO - All I wanted was to get some clarity from the organization and people who have taken the liberty of snapping up film footage of my videos of the Taste of Manila street festival, replaced the watermark with their logo, and made it appear the patched-up visuals were their original.

Instead of what I had hoped for, I was given the weird and twisted logic of one whose frame of mind goes beyond the pale of the law and ethics professional journalists exercised in the practice of their craft.

Certainly, whatever doubts I had entertained about some individuals belonging to this newly-surfaced not-for-profit organization quickly vanished the very moment they opened their mouths and spoke the same tune I had expected them to say.

But this one from a so-called podcaster beats them all. "The Taste of Manila who owns the Taste of Manila owns any videos that have been shown . . . YouTube, Facebook, and any other application," says Ramon "Mon" Datol at a press conference on Sunday, April 10, 2022, at the Top Silog restaurant on Bathurst St. near Wilson Ave.

Asked why his group stole film footage from my videos, his response was murkier than the statement that preceded it. He states: "You won't have your videos if there is no Taste of Manila. You did not ask Taste of Manila founder and the president to have videos on that". (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd02DO503DU).

Therefore, he stressed, I can not claim copyright for everything I did during my coverage of the street festival since it started in August 2014 until it went bankrupt and finally folded at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. (Video at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aOgDtLd6ec ).

Of course, given his background as a former promoter of the "Anghel ng Tahanan" beauty contest (or was it Ilaw ng Kusina?) targetting lonesome Filipino caregivers, Datol's statements are not to be taken seriously. Besides, he is no legal mind, to begin with.

I affirm here and now, and continue to affirm, that Datol's group - including Rolly Mangante, the former driver of the Philippine Consulate and self-declared founder of Taste of Manila; Cecille Araneta, the alleged head of a not-for-profit group; Danna Luna aka Lovely, Pepito Torralba, and others - had usurped footage from my videos without my knowledge and permission.

I do insist that his group could do any of these things to settle this controversy: 1. Takedown their video containing my footage; 2. Credit the footage to me and my Filipino Web Channel as the source; 3. Pay up for the unauthorized usage; 4. Acknowledge their mistake and apologize.

I am the creator of at least 50 videos about Taste of Manila festival. The most number - thirteen (13) - was in August 2016 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne were the guests of honor. (Videos at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWQr7tlg5pk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjRO6DXgNc ).

It's so absurd, or moronic as Datol might prefer to say, to imagine asking Rolly Mangante for permission every time I want to shoot a video during the festival while the top official of Canada and Ontario were being mobbed by a huge crowd for selfies and autographs.

What about the mainstream press, like broadcasters CTV News, CBC, and the hundreds of revelers who were shooting for their respective Facebook accounts? Did they have to ask Mangante's permission?

That's essentially the practical meaning of Datol's asinine assertions on the question of my copyright claim on the film footage they stole. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

As the creator of the videos and author of the articles and text messages accompanying them, I am also the first owner. I have the economic rights and the moral right to those intellectual properties, not Taste of Manila, not Rolly Mangante, not Ramon Datol, not Cecille Araneta, not Danna Luna, not Pepito Torralba, and not their unidentified cohorts.

Datol's protestations and his dense understanding of copyrights would render Canada's copyright law meaningless. He might be pardoned for his ignorance but to say it out loud as he did is truly worthy of derision.

But who is Datol in the local media scene? Well, I remember very well how he reacted to a story years ago where he advocated declaring a Philippine labor official "persona non grata" for allegedly tagging him and another person "morons". (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/03/media-uproar-in-toronto-over-word-moron.html)

From time to time, Datol spews what I call an ignoramus' gem. He may be good at baiting unsuspecting Filipino caregivers to be household queens but he's no fountain of wisdom.

"We have to cut short your questioning. If you want to complain, complain to the proper authorities x x x we cannot entertain any more questions that put us in a bad light," he declares, dodging the very issue that triggers the question of why this proposed new Taste of Manila should not be trusted.

Friday, 8 April 2022

Friendships in the Filipino Community

Volume 3, Issue No. 41

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Friday, April 8, 2022

~ Remember Dionne Warwick's "That's What Friends Are For"? It's a song of commitment, love, and friendship. Friendship has actually three categories, wrote the Greek philosopher Aristotle. His discourse on the subject finds relevance and meaning in the Filipino community of Toronto. Utility, pleasure, and goodness define each concept of friendship. And no more apropos are these when seen in the light of the individuals and organizations in Canada's largest city.

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NOT ON UTILITY OR PLEASURE

The Perfect Friendship: One Based on Goodness

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” ― Alice Walker

TORONTO - I found this book the size of a pocketbook while rummaging in the "book sale" at one of Toronto's public libraries. It's the Penguin Classics' "The Ethics of Aristotle" - a treasure, if I may so - because of its stimulating discourse on the general subject of ethics.

Aristotle, as everyone knows, was the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist and "one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history". His intellectual range, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, covered most of the sciences and many of the arts, including ethics, history, logic, rhetoric, philosophy of mind, poetics, and political theory, among others.

Initially, I gave the book a quick glance over, speed-reading some chapters until my attention was riveted to his discussion of friends and friendship, love and friendship.

Friendships, he formulated, are of three kinds. These are friendship based on utility, friendship based on pleasure, and friendship based on goodness. The last is the "perfect friendship," he wrote.

Perfect would mean pure, undiluted, unblemished, and being as it is, is quite rare. That kind of friendship is priceless, a treasure worth keeping for life.

Based on current and past personal and professional experiences as a journalist, I can say I've seen and interacted with people in the three categories.

Admittedly, my circles of friends are so limited to the "perfect friendship" I've cultivated for years. I had a few in my former hometown of San Diego, California; and a few more in Manila and in some European capitals where I had occasion to work in news agencies, like in Germany and the United Kingdom.

Here at home in Toronto, such friendship exists in what we casually call "the caucus" - a small group of less than a dozen men and women that saw birth from informal lunches in inexpensive restaurants. Though we all think, write and talk differently, we share a commonality in having meals other than Filipino food.

That kind of friendship emerged not so much out of necessity but of wanting to express ourselves freely without fear of being hauled to court and slapped with a defamation complaint. An onion-skinned individual afflicted with diarrhea of the mouth has no place in this caucus.

Again based on experience, the first category - friendship based on utility - is the most widespread in Toronto's Filipino community. One can find this in practically all the associations and high-profile organizations that project themselves as charities or bleeding hearts.

So long as one is useful to the organization in whatever capacity, such as helping raise money by selling tickets, recruiting new members, or covering up for leaders' misdeeds, etc., the person is accepted and soon becomes chummy-chummy with the officers of the organization.

One organization enjoys the distinction of being, purportedly, a "savior" of the poor, etc., that kind of rubbish. Another refers to the organization as "volunteer-run" although its officials are recompensed for whatever they do or not do.

Many Filipinos here easily give in to this racket, perhaps to satisfy a sense of belonging, at a great price to their pockets and personal time with their families. In exchange, they get media exposure, mostly photo ops, in friendly newspapers.

It's a challenge for me as a journalist, at least, to find out the links between organizations, on the one hand, and the newspapers and local press club, on the other. Why is there an inordinate amount of news items and photos focusing only on selected organizations and individuals? Why? There is no question that the relationship is one of friendship based on utility.

One organization blows hot and cold on me. The "friendship" is seasonal. In summer, some of the officials of this group are amiable. Understandably so, because it is the season for their yearly extravaganza and they need constant media exposure for their event.

Now I remember how a low-level functionary had questioned why I, a media person, was being given a shirt - a cheap shirt at that for a souvenir - intended for volunteers. It was petty and the pettiness has upset me, knowing that such a shirt costs $2 in Chinatown.

If my friendship with the organization had been based on utility, why would she deny something she didn't own? What I'm doing, and have done in the past, were incomparable, money-wise, with her volunteer time even if she spent years getting involved.

It's an insult. But what I didn't expect was forthcoming was the bigger insult. Measuring friendship, hours of toil, and out-of-pocket expenses because another person had accepted his utilitarian value in a meager way, was so belittling. That's quite a lesson for me.

Friendship based on pleasure is also common in Toronto. I know that pleasure has an erotic connotation and is usually interpreted in terms of sexual relationships. I will leave it at that. Private moments are private moments.

Monday, 4 April 2022

Quiboloy's US Cohort to Plead Guilty in Fraud Cases

Volume 3, Issue No. 40

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Monday, April 4, 2022

~ A Filipino paralegal alleged by US authorities as a cohort of Apollo Quiboloy, the self-proclaimed "appointed son of God", has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges that could land her in prison for five years. The US Justice Department said Maria De Leon, 73, of Los Angeles, California, is one of nine defendants, including Quiboloy, charged in November 2021 in a 42-count superseding indictment that alleges a labor trafficking scheme to bring church members to the US, where they were forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity.

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ALLEGED COHORT OF QUIBOLOY, THE 'APPOINTED SON OF GOD'

Filipino Paralegal in US Admits Role in Fraud

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." - Matthew 7:15

TORONTO - One of nine alleged cohorts of Filipino televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the self-declared "appointed son of God," has admitted her role in marriage and visa fraud to obtain legal residency in the United States for members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC).

The US Justice Department said Maria De Leon, 73, a resident of Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, and the owner of Liberty Legal Document Services, agreed to plead guilty to participating in a scheme with administrators of the church. She also agreed to cooperate in the government's case, the department said.

For about eight years, De Leon, a paralegal, prepared and filed false documents that sought permanent residency and citizenship for members of Quiboloy's church who allegedly worked as fundraisers for a bogus charity operated by the church, a press statement furnished The Filipino Web Channel said during the weekend.

As part of the plea agreement, De Leon will formally enter her guilty plea to the conspiracy count during a court hearing soon. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/02/fbi-issues-arrest-warrant-for-appointed.html).

“At the time [De Leon] completed the immigration paperwork for certain KOJC members, [she] knew that the immigration paperwork was based upon false representations of the bona fides of the underlying marriages” made by church officials," according to the plea agreement.

In Manila, meanwhile, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, a legal counsel to Quiboloy, clarified in published reports that De Leon is an independent contractor who "is not a member of KOJC x x x and neither is she connected nor affiliated in any way with the KOJC nor with Pastor Quiboloy officially or personally".

De Leon is one of six defendants previously arrested in this case, the department said. The remaining five defendants who have appeared in federal court in Los Angeles are currently scheduled to be tried on March 21, 2023.

Three of the defendants, including Quiboloy, are fugitives believed to be in the Philippines. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has created "Wanted by the FBI" posters showing their names, faces, and detailed background information. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9o7oJDmSHI&t=13s).

Though considered a runaway from justice in the US, Quiboloy is highly visible online and on television. He frequently appears on newscasts in SMNI or Sonshine Media Network International, the Makati City-based network he owns, expressing his support for certain candidates in the general elections on May 9.

Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, California on charges ranging from sex trafficking of children, marriage fraud, money laundering, visa fraud, bulk cash smuggling, conspiracy, and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. On November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.

The flamboyant televangelist is reportedly one of the richest pastors in the country with a net worth estimated at between 50 to 100 million pesos. Speculations in Philippine media said Quiboloy might be extradited to the U.S. to face his accusers.

With regard to De Leon, the department said she admitted to submitting fraudulent “Petitions for Alien Relative” and related paperwork on behalf of KOJC members knowing or believing that the marriages were arranged for purposes of securing favorable immigration status for a spouse.

She is one of nine defendants charged in November 2021 in a 42-count superseding indictment that alleges a labor trafficking scheme that used fraudulently obtained visas to bring KOJC members to the US, where they were forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity – the Children’s Joy Foundation (CJF) based in Glendale, California.

The indictment alleges that the donations were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.

Members who proved successful at soliciting for the KOJC were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to acquire legal status in the US so they could continue soliciting donations, the indictment alleges.

Many of the workers were moved around the US to solicit donations as CJF “volunteers,” who were also called Full Time Miracle Workers, according to the indictment, which alleges these “workers fundraised for KOJC nearly every day, year-round, working very long hours, and often sleeping in cars overnight.” (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).

Friday, 1 April 2022

Let's Have a Good Laugh Today

Volume 3, Issue No. 39

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

Our latest as of Friday, April 1, 2022

~ In these dreadful times, we ought to have a laugh or two at our own misgivings and be tickled pink. Today is April Fools' Day, an annual custom on April 1 consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. History says the day "has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, though its exact origins remain a mystery".

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IT'S APRIL FOOLS' DAY

Of Morons, Scam Artists, ToM, MPs, FCT

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"If there's one thing I learned about the community, it's to never underestimate the combo power of stupidity and ruthless ambition". - A local artist who wants to remain anonymous

TORONTO - Here's a bit of good, bad, and in-between news in the community:

1. Ramon "Mon" Datol, a newly-surfaced podcaster (kuno) who talks tirelessly for hours to a microphone, is reportedly being named honorary consul in Toronto mainly because of his advocacy to declare a Philippine labor attache persona non grata. The brainless suggestion was torpedoed before it went out of the room.

2. Cecile Araneta, Datol's chubby sidekick in a social media "newscast", has been appointed ambassador-at-large so she could recruit corporate sponsors for another virtual InterCONtinental Taste of Manila (emphasis on CON) which is scheduled either before or after mankind has totally wiped COVID out.

3. Nieves Mangante (Cecile Araneta's look-alike) whom a hallucinating wannabe writer has condescendingly referenced as "first lady of Taste of Manila", has been designated as acting mayor of Little Manila. Her first order of business, according to sources, is to organize all the sidewalk vendors hawking suman, talong, kangkong, pechay, kamote, etc. to support her husband's bid to be a member of parliament daw.

4. Rolly Mangante, the self-declared founder of Taste of Manila (ToM) who also holds the fancy title of CEO, is reportedly at his wit's end trying to divine why ToM lost an undetermined amount of cash while he and his family were lavishly vacationing in sun-drenched Boracay. At least $40,000 could not be found, reliable sources said. (Related video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_398v7dDQhQ).

5. Philip Beloso, allegedly the president of a shadowy group called PESO (quite an appropriate acronym for Philippine Community Events and Services Ontario), is the all-around photo hugger, photo bomber, emcee, priest assistant, etc. is reportedly gunning for the presidency of the deaf-mute organization Filipino Centre Toronto, which is renowned for its parada ng lechon, but not for transparency.

6. Danna Luna aka Lovely, the marketing/logistic director of whatever and alleged ToM host, is reportedly one of the parties wanting to have a ToM version in Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. A source in PESO says she also wants ToM to be in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut. Good luck babe! Why is she called Lovely?

7. Media sponsors like Balita, CBC/99.1FM Radio One, OMNI TV, Barangay Canada, and Pinoy News are reportedly up in arms for not getting the "global" exposure they were promised to have. It's reasonable, for, after all, ToM's social media platform hardly gets traction except from within, which is to say an average of two to four viewers per quarter. The internet pirate named Periodico, the phony online publication that comes and goes is reportedly negotiating to be ToM's PR agent for scam artists.

8. Toronto Mayor John Tory is reportedly upset because ToM has gone virtual. He wants to be very much around with Toronto Councillor James Pasternak and MP Marco Mendicino during ToM festival. An aide said the mayor is already missing his favorite street food like kwek-kwek, balut, adidas, among others, and monay from FV Foods.

9. Mary Ann San Juan, the president of Filipino Centre Toronto, is said to be seriously considering quitting FCT so she could devote her time as a tourist guide for Intramuros, the Walled City, in Manila. The day job is a good fit for her, according to her friends. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWabOiCwhU).

10. Efren de Villa, chairman of Filipino Centre Toronto, is reportedly being groomed to be a Liberal MPP for Scarborough, the Toronto suburb where FCT has stashed its millions in a subterranean vault. It's not clear if de Villa is eyeing FCT's $4-million wealth for his war chest.

11. Rechie Valdez, the first Filipino Canadian woman MP in the House of Commons, was recently reported to be teaching her staff to pronounce her name properly after she overheard one saying "Leche" Valdez, the "Empty" for Mississauga-Streetsville district.

12. Chito Collantes, the title-obsessed "Dr." who is not a medic, has reportedly abandoned the so-called Elite Crusaders after his colleagues - some are sexual predators - decided to look into alleged questionable activities of his recruitment agency being advertised in Balita. Collantes has a pending arrest warrant in the Philippines, according to Periodico. The question is asked: are these elite crusaders actually elite scammers? How many vulnerable people have they victimized, err I mean, helped?

13. Beauty pageants - the cash cow of several community organizations - have apparently lost their luster since the unwelcome arrival of the coronavirus and the pandemic it spurred two and a half years ago. Who in her right mind would like to be crowned Mrs. Pandemic, Miss Pandemic, or Little Miss Pandemic?

14. Not a joke that Filipinos will have their food indulgence starting today with the first-ever Filipino Restaurant Month in Toronto and some provincial capitals across Canada. But it's a joke that most restaurants offer the so-called "pampa-bata," the greasy dish consisting of different pork preparations like lechon, sisig, chicharon bulaklak, etc. They're not exactly age-defying food, but ask your friends why they're called "pampa-bata". (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).