“Explain before you complain.”
This was the unsolicited advice of “Eat Bulaga” host Joey de Leon to Willie Revillame of rival noontime television show “Wowowee.”
As promised upon his arrival from Hong Kong on Wednesday, de Leon gave his reaction Thursday to Revillame’s emotional public outburst against him that hogged the media spotlight. The verbal tussle between the comedian hosts started after de Leon made on-air remarks about the alleged cheating that occurred in a game portion in “Wowowee.”
“Mga kaibigan, ‘pag ang bata po nadapa, tinatanong natin ‘Bakit?’ ‘Pag nauntog, ‘Bakit?’ Kung buong Pilipinas pa, buong masang Pilipino at mga mahihirap na sumasali at umaasa lang sa mga ganitong palaro at may nangyaring ganoon, hindi ba karapatan din niyang magtanong, ‘Bakit? Bakit nagkaganoon?’” de Leon said.
(My friends, if a child stumbles, we ask ‘Why?’ When he bumps his head, ‘Why?’ If something like this happened to our country, to the Filipino masses and the poor who join and pin their hopes on game shows, don’t they have the right to ask ‘Why? Why did this happen?’)
“Hindi pa po pinapaliwanag nitong taong ito (Revillame) bakit nagkagulo-gulo. Bakit hindi na lang lumabas iyong dos? Bakit mayroong zero muna? Iyon po ang nasa YouTube at sa kung anu-ano pa,” he added.
(This person has not explained why things got messed up. Why was the P2 million jackpot price a no show? Why did a zero amount appear first? That was seen on a YouTube video clip)
Taking around five minutes of airtime from his show to address the controversy surrounding the August 20 episode of Wilyonaryo, de Leon re-enacted on his own what took place during the game based on video clips uploaded to popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.
De Leon, in his account of what happened, never mentioned Revillame’s name, initially referring to him as “isang nilalang at isang kaluluwa na siniraan ang inyong lingkod” before addressing him as “kaibigan (friend)” three times.
The veteran host challenged Revillame to explain what went wrong instead of singling him out as his accuser.
“Bakit hindi niyo muna ipaliwanag bago kayo, ipasa niyo ang sisi at para malihis ang atensyon ng humihingi ng tanong na bakit nagkaganoon. Iniuna niyo pang tirahin ang ibang tao para malihis ang atensyon? Ang pagsasalita ko pong ito ay alang-alang sa milyun-milyong Pilipino na nanonood ng telebisyon at humihingi ng paliwanag… Para lang sa spirit ng fairness, siguro dapat nating ipaliwanag. Kaibigan para sa iyo ito. Explain before you complain. Ganoon lang po iyan,” he said.
(Why don’t you explain things first before you pass the blame and divert the attention of those who want their questions answered? Instead you chose to attack other people first to divert attention from the issue. I’m speaking for the millions of Filipino viewers who are seeking an explanation… In the spirit of fairness maybe we should explain things. This is for you my friend. Explain before you complain. It’s that simple.)
