It was a pathetic sight to behold. The cavernous Hall D of the Metro Convention Center was almost empty. Did I get into the wrong place? Hundreds of vacant seats..there was an eerie silence.
The Mabuhay Festival 2012 that should have a festive atmosphere was a far cry from the previous events where you have to jostle, mend your way down because of the huge crowd, fight tooth and nail for a view of the grand stage .
But this time was as if I was looking at a big abandoned and deserted warehouse. A motley crowd of less than 1,000 or so compared to previous 5,000 or more in past events.
Prior to this, Norma Carpio, PIDC president foresaw an estimate of only a maximum 2,000 attendees or ticket buyers. What happened?
Was it a fiasco, a disaster, or a complete big let down and why?
Could it be the $25.00 entrance fee? TFC-ABS CBN had Sam Milby ,Nikki Gil and Randy Santiago, all big stars in the television filament ( they were the saving grace of the day, but that’s going ahead of the story) and perhaps and it seemed everybody agreed that it was the bungling of some “inflated ego“ individuals within the PIDC (Philippine Independence day Council) which oversees the festival.
It seemed that somebody had rained on Norma Carpio’s parade who said that upon reassuming the presidency of the PIDC, she would make this year’s version a replica of the highly successful event that transpired at the Canadian National Exhibition Place (CNE) commemorating the Philippine’centennial celebration. “This will be my legacy“ she said in a previous interview but sadly somebody ruined all these in just one day.
We learned that PIDC meetings have been marked with power struggles, with petty squabbles and jockeying for positions, for bigger budgets both for personal and technical purposes to which Norma has to deal with painstakingly.
There was this lady who asked for a $3,000 budget for herself as professional fees but was turned down by Carpio. She pleaded and cried. till she got what she wanted. And I thought that these people are volunteers. Why are they being paid? For being a Primadonna?
This lady also demanded that her segment be top priority..change the whole program to give way for her group. On the day of the festival, last minute changes were made in the programs to the consternation of the ABS-CBN/TFC representative who pleaded with the PIDC to let the guest stars perform at the agreed time because one of them had a shooting schedule.
The unprofessionalism of some of these individuals were so pronounced that even in the presence of The Filipino Channel (TFC) officials led by Ms.Rosary Escano, they were getting at each other’s throat when it should have been discussed internally.
It was the lack of control by Norma over her people that led to this fiasco, this factor, coupled by the fact that she let somebody dip her fingers on all aspects of the festival spelled the disaster that many was saying was “waiting to happen“.
Its about time PIDC rid itself of glory hunters, self-centered individuals and other characters who undermine the objectives of the organization. They should now scout for competent people who are selfless and ready to face the challenge of community building, persons with a keen sense of public relations and service.
This is a daunting task but the community is not short of this kind of individuals.
What really transpired. Let me give you a blow by blow account and maybe an overview of what went wrong.
– The Santacruzan, which was supposed to be held at in the afternoon,was moved to the morning when there was no crowd at all
– Lilac Cana and Jeff Rustia emceed or hosted the show. Lilac was also the entertainment director, she also sang and performed, in both the harana and jazz segment but the Jazz segment was never a Jazz session (imagine Bong Castillo singing a non jazz ditty ballad “This is my moment” and Jennifer Uy warbling Whitney Houston’s “I will always Love You “which of course do not belong to that music genre. It is pop music mind you.
The sound quality (audio, vocals, mixing, effects and other technical aspects) was poorly set up. My publisher and others were quoted that it was actually a Jeff and Lilac Show simply because they were all over the place.
They also commented why Jeff put her mom on the spot (and asking her go up the stage) to announce to the whole world about her winning an award and mind you, this is the second time he did it, the first time at the PIDC beauty pageant. Was this necessary or related to the festival? Better, he could have sent dozens of press releases to all and sundry.
The fashion show was abruptly stopped upon orders of Mike Aprieto, PIDC exec. Vice president who said” his decision might be unpopular“ but the show was taking too much time and derailing the schedule.
He was right because the crowd was getting bored and restless .Many of the crowd we talked to, found for instance the one featuring non-Filipino quite “weird” and “revolting “(what are they doing in a supposedly community event highlighting Filipino culture). Another was one that seemingly degrades the Filipino barong as a formal wear when it was paired with shorts? Is that a tribute or disrespect to the national wear?
– The trio of Nikki Gil, Randy Santiago and Sam Milby somewhat woke up the crowd from their stupor and it was only then that things began to enliven. Nikki had a bad throat but like a real trouper
enthralled the audience with her renditions of her own teleserye theme “Ikaw and Hulog ng Langit “from the recently concluded drama “Mundo Man ay Magunaw “ and three other songs.
Randy of course, as the original “babaero“ proved that he still has the magic while Sam Milby titillated the ladies and women in the crowd with some of her acoustic songs specially “ And I Love you so“ of Don McLean.
– Maria Teresa Panaligan won the Canadian eastern portion of TFC Kat contest and got the chance to compete in Pilipinas Got talent (PGT) show in Manila.
– big let down was why the young dancers “barkadas“: and the rappers were on the last portion of the show when everybody was already going home leaving the talented kids with no audience. Again this is a mortal sin committed by those who changed the program.
How can we give impetus and support to these young talents by giving them this kind of shabby treatment? Paging Filipinos Making Waves Festival (FMWF) please take note of these young kids. The Food booths may have experienced low sales but understandable given the low turn-out.
Some people complained famous chicken Max’s price is too expensive as compared to other food outlets.
Pidoy Pacis said given the “corporate standards“ they have to adhere to as a franchisee of the Manila-based family restaurant, their price is indeed a little bit higher but this is compensated by the guaranteed quality of their product.
In one of recent surveys, Pidoy’s Max’s chicken was adjudged as one of the ten best chicken dinners in North America.
GOOD BUSINESS SENSE?:- By the way, we heard that Max’s which is really run by Pidoy’s son Clyde has allegedly reneged on its promise to put up a beer garden at the Filipinos Making Waves Festival (FMW) on August 18 at Dundas square.
Clyde has offered to put up the beer garden to introduce to Canadian mainstream our iconic San Miguel beer Light at the festival. After rounds of negotiations, they agreed to terms last July 14 at the PIDC gala.
But for some unexplained reason, Teresa Torralba, managing director of the event, received a text message from Clyde informing her that they are withdrawing from the event.
Ms. Torralba texted back asking for an explanation but never received any response at all.
It is unfortunate, Ms.Torralba said that as a respected businessman and owner of a very prestigious establishment, Clyde did not have the courtesy of even giving her a reply or explanation at all as good business ethics dictates.
“ I’m at a loss because, I have known his father ,Pidoy to be a very accessible man in spite of his busy schedules who finds time talk to everyone, but of course not all people are the same” said Torralba.
She added all she wanted was a little courtesy and a short note simply because she wanted to accommodate others who wanted to take their place in the festival. *****
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