Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
and National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC)
The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff. ~Ambrose Bierce
LONDON – Rock star egos, swelled heads, power trips, petty rivalries, deliberate lying – they all converged in one occasion that guaranteed failure for the top Filipino community event in Toronto this last weekend of July.
Witnesses who attended what should have been a festive celebration at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre had nothing but a blank stare at the low turnout of people, far from the madding crowd that had historically been synonymous with the yearly staging of Mabuhay Festival by the Philippine Independence Day Council.
The euphoria that usually accompanies a successful event has been replaced by gloom. Rightly so because poor attendance spells financial trouble for the organization and the officers. It also fuels doubts among corporate and community sponsors.
The price of the ticket, at $25 per, had been deemed by some as unreasonably exorbitant. For a family of four, that’s a princely sum not worth spending for entertainment offered for free at other venues. Besides, the hefty amount quite unfairly added to the widespread suspicion of corruption.
So at the outset, PIDC officials knew the risks. They had barely recovered from the shame brought upon it by some officials who might have absconded with an undetermined amount of money, therefore, regaining public trust would be extremely difficult.
Now, launching Mabuhay Festival with old and new faces was a gamble. The taint and hint of scandal – still unexplained to this day since it surfaced in March – continues to cast a cloud on well-intentioned officials.
(Related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvfAV26CIQ&feature=channel&list=UL).
It didn’t help that PIDC enlisted individuals with personal agendas of their own and were using Mabuhay Festival as a platform for their pursuits.
What really transpired?
The inside stories on July 28 had worsened rather than improved PIDC’s stature as the premier Filipino organization in Toronto.
One of the consequences of the ill-fated Mabuhay Festival was the resignation – three days later – of its artistic director, Ms. Lilac Cana, who blamed PIDC executive vice president Mike Aprieto for her decision to quit.
(Related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyM221nc4E0&feature=channel&list=UL).
” . . . due to some actions of Board members who did not fully support me, from the very beginning — namely, VP Mike Aprieto, have prevented me to execute my vision to elevate our Filipino-Canadian talents to their fullest,” Cana wrote to the PIDC board. “Therefore, my decision is to resign from PIDC”.
Sought for his reaction, Aprieto explained that except for the Original Pilipino Music segment, Cana “had full control over the festival program content – auditioning, selection of artists/performers, type of content (cultural, musical, fashion, etc) and scheduling”.
“I will not allow the blame to be put on me if I am the one that was sabotaged knowing that Lilac (Cana) has had no amore for the ABS-CBN folks,” Aprieto states in an email. The network giant was PIDC’s partner and major sponsor.
But PIDC president Norma Carpio had a totally different explanation for Cana’s departure posthaste..
(Related videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br45NFZxFic&feature=channel&list=UL and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNbGl45UP4A&feature=channel&list=UL)
“Lilac quit because of conflict of interest,” she writes. “Our constitution and by laws prohibits compensation to members of the board of directors,” Mrs. Carpio clarifies.
Carpio’s statements may serve to confirm allegations that Cana had asked for a talent fee of $3,000 which, according to unverified reports, PIDC paid outright. Asked to confirm whether she received the money or not, Cana was unresponsive.
The Filipino community has been led to believe that officials in organizations like PIDC are unpaid volunteers. Cana’s payout, if proven true, negates all that.
(A related story by journalist Tenny Soriano is available at: http://www.balita.ca/2012/08/the-pidc-fiasco-who-rained-on-normas-parade/)
Carpio also denied that the presence of Cana had been responsible for the lack of popular support for this year’s Mabuhay Festival.
Cana’s finger-pointing on Aprieto found support from a brother of one of the presentors whom she called a “dear friend”.
Michael Rustia is raising hell on behalf of brother Jeff Rustia whose fashion show was halted towards the end by Aprieto.
“I just can’t believe this Michael Aprieto physically pushed the models, stopped all of them from dressing, and manhandled my brother, and had the cops take everyone out from the backstage, just like common criminals,” Michael Rustia writes in a complaint to the PIDC board. “I can’t believe something like this would even happen”.
But Michael Rustia, who says his brother’s presentation “was clearly the highlight of the day”, admits he wasn’t there at all when the incident happened. That means he relied on somebody else’s information and in the telling and re-telling of the story, he seemed to have exaggerated.
“x x x if I knew what was going on, I would have gone to the backstage put a stop to all his fear and stupidity,” he states. “And I can’t believe that security, marshals, and policemen were escorting everyone out, while they were still changing? Some of the people were being pushed while they were still putting their pants on, and hopping out of the backstage area”.
To this, Aprieto explains: “At that point, I went to the back stage and announced that the show was done and to clear the space for TFC (The Filipino Channel). The cops were there already even before the incident happened because they were preparing for the TFC artists, not because we were going to use them to disperse the models from the backstage. The police was arranged in advance . . . ”
Michael Rustia boasts that his brother Jeff is in the big league. “I don’t want to say this but for your information,” he brags, “international TV companies pay Jeff USD$1000 per hour to speak. Even our own Philippine GMA7 pays his hourly dollar rate to conduct a 3-day seminar yearly. He is an international speaker”.
When asked to provide the name and contact information of the international companies to verify his assertions, Rustia did not respond up to this writing. His other claim that he lost “a lot of money” was not quantifed either when queried.
While pinning all the blame on Aprieto, Michael Rustia did not mention the unauthorized insertion by his brother Jeff of their mother, Melinda Rustia, in his segment, which had slowed down the program.
Mrs. Rustia was not even a part of the show but Jeff Rustia called her on stage and introduced to the crowd.
“This impromptu Rustia segment only harmed the scheduling,” according to Aprieto, who says he stands by his decision to cut Jeff Rustia’s fashion show because of time considerations and contractual obligations with ABS-CBN, the main event presentor.
“They talk about the sacrifices of all that participated, but that didn’t cross their mind when they talked about Mrs. Rustia which was not part of the programming,” Aprieto explained.
Rock star egos, swelled heads, power trips, petty rivalries, deliberate lying – that sums up this year’s Mabuhay Festival.