By Bob V.
I would first like to say I am not Filipino or Filipino-American, I am a White American male 57 years of age and married to a lovely Filipina-American lady whom I met in Hawaii 25 years ago when I served in the US military.
We have been married for 23 years, and have 4 wonderful children and several grand kids. As an American married to a Filipina, you know how that goes, we automatically become apart of their family and that is what I enjoy about the Filipino people is their open arms and hospitality.
Over the years I was able to learn a little bit of Tagalog but when my wife is mad at me she will speak Kapampangan since she is from Pampanga, and she knows I have no idea what she is saying (laughs).
Anyway, enough about my life history, I am writing in to share my opinion on this whole Willie and ABS-CBN situation going on over Wowowee etc.
My wife and I enjoy watching the Filipino games shows from Eat Bulaga, to Wowowee TFC, GMA, ABS-CBN, you name it Kapamilya, Kapuso. What I like about the shows is they mix English and Tagalog so it’s good for foreigners who are not Tagalog speakers like myself to get a bit of a understanding of the show.
We used to watch ASAP and MTB and from what I remember I used to see this man who was always low, he looked like a beat up puppy and crying all the time, that man was Willie Revillame, and on those shows he was looking very humble. My wife would tell me what his background was and say “he wants a second chance because of some bad circumstances he got himself into”. I was on the side of Willie and said “it’s not right for a man to cry like this, we all make mistakes and this man looks to be suffering bad”. I say give him a chance! Even though his voice was hard on the ears and out of tune, he would sing songs on those shows and seemed to be humble and learned his lesson. I know how it is to be down and out and not have a job, so of course I was rooting for Willie at the time, because I know the feeling.
So when they developed the game show Wowowee and hired Willie, I was happy for him, I would tell my in-laws how great it was that this man was given a second chance. As a Christian I believe you must forgive but never forget, and people deserve chances in life if they truly repent and in their heart feel sorrow and show it in their actions.
Wowowee became my favorite show to watch, especially those gorgeous Filipina girls, no wonder they say Wowowee!!! (laughs), makes me wish I was a young man again. As the show Wowowee progressed, Willie Revillame changed, the man who I was rooting for was turning into a real slimey character, the guy who was crying for a second chance was insulting people and bragging about how much money he makes. His true colors began to show, he only was humble when he had nothing and looking for a job but when he started making millions he became arrogant. Everyone already talked about his disrespect of Cory Aquino and all the other controversial incidents he had, but I want to talk about something else that bothers me about Willie.
The show was becoming unwatchable, especially when he would flirt with those gorgeous women on his show in an uncomfortable way. Invite the white men or the foreigners on the stage and talk down to them, he would look at them with lizard eyes and almost with a condescending tone in his voice. The thing that pissed me off the most was when he would mock the Americans accents and talk slowly to them in English like they didn’t understand or were dumb, that is very disrespectful.
I want ABS-CBN and the producers of Wowowee to know that the show is watched by many people, not just Filipinos and those mocking actions from Willie Revillame towards foreigners is a slap in the face to fans of the Wowowee show. In America or any other country if an employee disrespected their boss or the audience the way Willie has, they would fire them without hesitation.
My wife and I are watching Wowowee again, and the show is back to its core, to help those in bad situations and tell their story, while bringing the entertainment to all involved. Robin Padilla is a great host, some people are complaining that he is stiff or not a comedian, but why does he have to pretend to be something he is not, leave that to Willie. When Willie Revillame was on the show he made himself bigger than the show, and the show Wowowee should be bigger than the host.
It’s a breath of fresh air to see a host who acts like a man and doesn’t “fake cry” or whine if someone has something negative to say about him, Robin Padilla is a real man, he doesn’t dramatically cry or demand someone is fired because they made a negative remark towards him, a real respectable man has thick skin and is unaffected by those type of remarks. Only insecure people act the way Willie Revillame does.
Mabuhay,
Bob V. of San Jose, California
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