Lea Salonga – still not been paid!

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I find this story quite interesting…the things that people will go thru to get a celebrity name so that he can say that she/he knows them personally and tight… it is still sad to learn that there are still lots of “con artists” to get a famous named celebrity to do something for a cause….ah, the world of show biz, is much like the same in the corporate/politics….bunch of BS all around! Well here is the interesting article I found ABS*CBN News written by Boy Villasanta, abs-cbnNEWS.com

Concert producer pays bounced check to Lea Salonga

by Boy Villasanta, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/21/2010 7:18 PM

MANILA, Philippines – You would think that a Filipino cultural icon and an international star like Lea Salonga would be spared from the shady deals that, unfortunately, do happen from time to time in the local entertainment industry.

Think again.

The Tony-award winning musical theater artist was paid a bounced check in the amount of P200,000 by the producer of “Echoes of Dreams” benefit concert at the Araneta Coliseum on Nov. 30, 2009.

As of this writing—2 months after the concert—Salonga remains unpaid and the said producer has not communicated with Salonga or her representatives.

This incident hardly made a ripple in the entertainment industry and the news only reached people in showbiz through a Facebook status that Salonga herself posted online.

That FB status, posted on December 22, 2009, reads: “Just so you know, I am not now nor have I ever been a close friend of Jerome Vinarao (Echoes of Dreams producer). All claims that he’s close to me are false. As in ALL!!!”

Then Salonga reveals in the discussion that follows that she was paid a bounced check by Vinarao and also mentions that her adopted sister, Sheilla Habab, was also a “victim.”

Not a friend, just a fan

This writer caught up with Vinarao at his Center for Arts Foundation along Timog Avenue in Quezon City. Vinarao agreed to explain his side.

Vinarao denied ever claiming that he’s a close friend of Salonga.

“Once and for all, I would like to clear my side that I have not been claiming I am a close friend of Lea. What I know is that I was a good fan of hers,” he said in an exclusive interview.

Vinarao also admitted that the check he issued Salonga did bounce. However, he explained that it bounced simply because the account from which the check was drawn ran out of funds.

He admitted that he was short of funds after the November 30 show because the “Echoes of Dreams” concert was a flop.

He admitted he issued a post-dated check to Salonga but pointed out that he warned Salonga’s camp in advance that the check would bounce due to insufficient funds.

“The date of the check was December 5, 2009. I told them not to deposit it until I tell them so,” he added.

Vinarao revealed that the show didn’t make money.

“I had to pay P280,000 as tax to Araneta Coliseum. The net proceeds was only P9,450. It was a flop. I only had 2 groups which gave me donations so I was able to pay the tax,” explained Vinarao.

According to Vinarao, the P200,000 cash that was originally allotted for Salonga was diverted to pay various suppliers.

He said he handed P200,000 in cash to Habab for payments to these suppliers.

“I had to pay some of the suppliers. I paid Lea’s band P16,000. It’s a matter of priority, mas uunahin ko ang mga supplier at ang mga bata kaysa kay Lea (I paid the suppliers and child performers first before Lea),” he said.

Vinarao also said Judy Araneta Roxas gave her P50,000 as donation last Jan. 10, 2010 but he did not specify where the money went.

Lea’s ‘secrets’

A former student and former volunteer of the Center for Arts Foundation, however, said Vinarao did lead at least some of his students believe that he is a friend of Salonga.

Ramil Gulle was a volunteer of the Center for Arts Foundation for several months. He quit being a volunteer on Nov. 26, 2009, a few days before the “Echoes of Dreams” concert.

“Jerome did not say directly, ‘Oh, Lea Salonga and I are good friends.’ But he did tell us, his students, during one or two workshop sessions that he and Lea would call each other on the phone and even exchange emails.

“One time, he told us about the time that he called Lea Salonga on the phone when she was in the United States. According to Jerome, he wanted to ask Lea Salonga to perform in one benefit concert he was producing. The problem was she was in the U.S. doing other shows.

“According to Jerome, all he had to do to get Lea Salonga on his show was to make a phone call. Jerome told us that he called up Lea Salonga in the U.S. and asked her to sing at his show—since it was only for one night, anyway.

“Now this is what, according to Jerome, Lea did. She supposedly booked a flight all the way back to Manila just so she could sing in his show. The next day, according to Jerome, Lea Salonga flew back to the United States.

“Now let me ask you: if you are Lea Salonga and you are in the middle of doing shows in the U.S., what would motivate you to fly all the way back to Manila, just to sing for one night, and then go back to the U.S. the following day—and all because Jerome called her on the phone. If she isn’t Jerome’s friend, why would she do that for him?”

“I believed these claims by Jerome because by then I had already been introduced by him to Sheilla, Lea’s sister. Sheilla, as far as I could tell, was a good friend of Jerome. So it wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that he’s friends with Lea, too. And of course, Jerome is good at convincing people,” Gulle said.

Gulle added that Vinarao also told his students about Salonga’s “secrets” to good singing.

“Jerome would tell his students about ‘the secrets to good singing’. He mentioned that he learned these secrets through 5 years of research. And part of that research was the ‘secrets’ that Lea Salonga supposedly shared with him.

“Jerome, for example, would make his students do warm-up exercises. While we were doing the warm-ups, he told us that Lea Salonga did the same warm-ups but for much longer than we could,” said Gulle.

As a volunteer for the “Echoes of Dreams” production, Gulle also attended meetings with Vinarao and representatives of the beneficiary organizations.

At one meeting, Jerome told us that Lea was so willing to help ‘Echoes of Dreams’ that she agreed to perform for free. However, Jerome also added that, out of his generosity and respect for Lea, he would pay Lea P100,000 as talent fee,” said Gulle.

Production manager

Habab, Salonga’s adopted sister, is the singer’s longtime assistant and travel companion.
According to Habab, her sister and Jerome never talked on the phone and never exchanged emails. She also disputed claims that Vinarao called up Salonga in the U.S. to do a show for him.

Habab revealed that she was the one who helped arrange for Salonga’s singing gig for “Echoes of Dreams” and another, earlier show also produced by Vinarao. At the time, she and the concert producer were still friends.

“Actually, may mas nauna pang show si Jerome na kinuha si Lea, sa isang advocacy concert sa Music Museum para sa mga abused girls. Lea was not in the U.S. at the time. She was here. Pero wala namang trouble do’n. Nabayaran si Lea, (Actually, Lea did perform at an earlier advocacy concert produced by Jerome. It was at the Music Museum, staged for the benefit of abused girls. But we had no trouble with that. Lea was paid),” she said in an exclusive interview.

She added she also helped Vinarao’s productions for the last 2 years as a volunteer.

“I believed in his objectives that’s why I joined in. They were all advocacies especially helping out the marginalized groups like the showcasing the talents of the autistic, the drug rehabilitated, the battered women, the Persons with Disabilities and many more in singing and dancing,” Habab said.

For the “Echoes of Dreams” concert, Habab was the production manager who took care of all the technical requirements for the show.

Habab even stayed in Araneta Coliseum for 2 days. “Sa mga dressing room na lang ako natutulog at naliligo just to manage the production, (I slept and took showers in the dressing room just to manage the production),” she recalled.

Salonga got downpayment

According to Habab, Salonga was supposed to receive P300,000 and not P100,000. She said that there was never any agreement that Salonga would perform for free.

“In June of 2009, Jerome was very confident he could raise millions from ‘Echoes…’ He was dreaming of raising tens of millions of pesos. Actually, Lea agreed to do the show for a fee,” said Habab.

Initially, they talked about a P500,000 talent fee for 7 songs but according to Habab, Vinarao haggled for a lower price.

“By November, we agreed to perform for his concert at a fee of P300,000 for 4 songs,” said Habab.

On the night of Salonga’s performance for “Echoes of Dreams,” she received an initial payment of P100,000 in cash. According to Habab, the remaining P200,000.00 was paid in check. The check was not under Vinarao’s name. Instead it was under the name of a certain “Maria David.”

Before the show started, the suppliers for the lights and audio equipment were already demanding a downpayment for their services—as is customary, according to Habab.

“Kaya sa laki ng Araneta, hinahabol ko si Jerome kahit sa control booth. Sabi ko, hindi gagalaw ang mga suppliers, like ‘yong lights and sound, kung walang down payment (That’s why I had to chase Jerome around through the Araneta. I told him that the lights and sounds would not operate without a down payment),” recounted Habab.

Six checks, as far as Habab could remember, were issued by Vinarao. The checkbook’s owner, she said, was Vinarao’s mother but it was he who signed them.

Habab confirmed that she did get a warning from Vinarao not to deposit the check issued to Salonga. But the warning came too late. The check had already been deposited. The check did not get cleared by the bank and was sent back, with a stamp indicating the checking account had already been closed.

“Okay, there were his texts and missed calls from [Jerome]. Nai-deposit na ni Mommy (Ligaya Salonga) ang check, anong magagawa ko?” said Habab.

Regrets

Vinarao said  he feels bad his organization is tarnished because of Salonga’s Facebook postings.

“It’s not me who was ruined but the Foundation,” he lamented.

He is somewhat regretful he insisted on getting Salonga for “Echoes of Dreams.”

“She’s not the only artist I could guest in my show. I could get other artists,” said Vinarao. “But of course, it’s good that she performed.”

When Habab was informed about this, she retorted, “Gano’n? E, siya nga ang nagkakandamatay na mai-guest si Lea. (Really? He said that? Well, why was he so desperate to have Lea as his guest?) ‘Echoes of Dreams’ was originally scheduled on September of 2009 but I told him Lea wouldn’t be around at the time and she could only do it November. So he moved the date of the show.”

Habab also said Vinarao did give her money for the suppliers on the night of the show but that money was never for Salonga.

Habab added that P300,000 was loaned to Vinarao by a pastor who is an official of the Philippine office of Fusion Excel (the show’s sponsor), on the night of the concert itself. Vinarao had to secure that loan or otherwise, the show wouldn’t start because the suppliers for the lights and audio equipment were already threatening to walk out.

“It’s a standard in the industry that you pay your suppliers and talents on the night of the show. I kept reminding Jerome all day on November 30 that he has to pay all his suppliers and his talents—including Lea—on the day of the show. If you cannot do that then there’s something wrong with how you’re managing your money,” Habab explained.

Habab also contested Vinarao’s claim that he had very little money after the concert.

According to her, there was a check presented to Vinarao during the show from the sponsor, Fusion Excel, amounting to a million pesos.

Not running away

Vinarao said he’s done nothing wrong and that his accusers are just out to ruin him. He said that Internet posting of a court document showing an estafa case against him is a fabrication.

“If they’re talking about the one posted in the Internet, wala ngang pirma ng judge ‘yon, paano masasabing totoo ‘yon (The document has no signature of the judge so how can it be genuine)? ” Vinarao said.

Vinarao said he won’t run from his responsibilities. “Babayaran ko sila. Hindi ko sila tatakbuhan (I’m not on the run. I will pay my debts).”

Habab said, however, that she and her sister as well as the other suppliers have yet to hear any word from Vinarao. He has not talked to any of them for the past 2 months.

“Ni hindi man lang siya makipag-usap sa mga suppliers at kay Lea. Ako ang napahamak. Sabi niya noon na ‘bukas, bukas ako magbabayad’ pero hanggang ngayon ay wala pa. Sana naman ay harapin niya kami,” Sheilla.

(He never even bothered to talk to Lea or the suppliers about anything related to payment. I was the one who had to face the suppliers and Lea. I became the scapegoat. He kept saying “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I’ll pay” but until now there’s nothing. I hope he talks to us.) -Report by Boy Villasanta, abs-cbnNEWS.com

as of 02/21/2010 7:22 PM