money for nothing

for the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of buzz about a six-year old boy lewdly dancing in a program staunchly supported by the marginalized sector.

i, among others, have condemned everybody involved in allowing such a segment to go on air.  most of the blame fell upon its host, who has been caught in many offensive and controversial issues before.  

the network management lacked foresight.  unless they lived in some alternate universe, management is presumably aware of all the baggage the host is carrying.  there has to be a reason why his old network dropped him, right? or why the competing networks haven't hired him, considering he had such a pull. that would've given them the edge.  but this new and budding  network needed exposure, being relatively unknown, so it decided to go for profit, ignoring the risk of having this particular host do something that would bite them in the a**.  but then again, they're in this for the money, as most people in any business are.  one would have to admire them for taking such a big risk, though.  and i applaud their hope in mankind that an ego as big as this host's would be deflated.  still, they would never had to deal with this had they taken a moment to reflect on whether this was a good move.

the sponsors of the show, like the network, took big risks.  however arrogant the host might be, one cannot deny that he has this unexplained pull over the poor sector of this country. or maybe it's the cash. i don't know.  we cannot deny that a good number of filipinos live below the poverty line hence, advertising in a show that caters to that number would mean tons of exposure, even though you're selling products that would most likely be patronized by the A and B classes (come on, if your last P200 came down to a choice of bigas and moisturizer, which would you buy?).  but yes, i guess they, too deserve some blame for supporting a show hosted by an offensive neanderthal... alright then. he's a man. he just lacked the proper breeding. 

the parents of the boy do not have clean hands either.  allowing their son to do those moves in national television for money and being proud of that? i think that says it all.

the filipino nation is not unaccountable, either.  shows like this would not have been popular had we not passively supported it.  it had to come to this before we actually took a stand.  for decades, we have supported programs that showcased the irritating chants of skimpily clad women.  and we were blinded by the happiness in the faces of the people who lined up outside the studios for easy money. we supported the pamela-mela one, otso-otso and brainless games they introduced (but thank god for the few games that actually showcase the intellectual abilities of the audience, i.e. pinoy henyo, family feud, who wants to be a millionaire and the like).  we ignored several incidents where various hosts have been offensive, particularly this one.  thus, they get bolder and bolder, thinking they can get away with it.  the public loves them anyway. 

but in law school, i was introduced to the doctrine of last clear chance.  in the back of my mind, i have always adhered to that doctrine.  we don't need a law degree to know that whoever had the last clear chance to prevent the occurrence of any unpleasant event and failed to do so deserves the blame.  in basketball, i think they call it "last touch."  we blame whoever "dropped the ball" ... the guy who could've slammed on the brakes but didn't.

in this case, it is the host.  he had the final say.  he gave his explanation (take note, it is not considered an apology).  he implied that he did not know the boy was going to dance like that, that he does not meet all contestants before hand.  he tried to mitigate the grossness of it all by saying they actually changed the music from a song associated with a sex tape to an upbeat hiphop tune.  like it made a difference.

assuming that his speech is worth believing, then at the very moment that the boy started moving like a male stripper, he shouldn't have laughed.  he shouldn't have encouraged the audience to goad the boy. and he cannot deny seeing the expression on the boy's face. i do not care why the boy was crying. the point is... HE WAS CRYING. the host should have said "STOP."  instead, he laughed and you can clearly hear him acknowledge that the boy was crying.  but he never said "STOP." i never finished the video.  but according to my friend, he made the boy do it again, this time with the skimpily clad women and some contraption that elevated the 6-year old boy as he was lewdly moving. i never saw that part and i refuse to re-watch it.  according to unicef, the more hits the video gets, the rights of the boy get violated again and again.

when time came for offering an apology, the host put the blame on his former network. i am entitled to my opinion so i do not and will  not regret saying that the statement was full of crap.  the host threatened to sue all those who voiced their concern through twitter.  he tried pulling former child stars down to his level, asking them that they were made to entertain people at a young age and they never cried child abuse.  smart answer to that retort: these "child stars" were never made to gyrate in front of crowds while being taunted by an insensitive, money-loving, egotistical, unbred neanderthal.  i don't recall anything remotely sexual to the way these children were treated or in any of the work they did. he veered away from the issue at hand by pointing the finger at others and bringing up old scandals.  he thought he was being persecuted.  of course he was.  his actions are deplorable.  sure, he donated a million pesos to a charity.  sure, he bought off... erm... compensated the stampede victims out of his own pocket, as he emphasized in his tirade.  but did he really have to say that?  in tagalog: pag nakakatulong ka, kailangan bang isampal sa mukha ng iba? kailangan talaga isumbat yun?

of course, i would expect nothing less from somebody who humiliates his best friend on air and renounces years of friendship in exchange for a business deal that did not push through. it's a reflection of what he values more... it's obviously money, not relationships or people. what else would i expect of somebody who lies about which high school he went to just to look prestigious (yes, i know exactly where he went to high school.  he was my mom's classmate-- they even had a nickname for him.  then he was my mom's younger brother's classmate the following year and the nickname stayed.  a former action star-- a nice man, by the way-- went to school with them).

then, there are his supporters.  these people have created numerous social networking accounts just to lambast those who criticized their favorite host of all time.  they have posted comments that attacked the host's detractors in a very personal manner, calling them names form "laos" to "baog" and a few other words that would have made the tulfo brothers blush. and then the words that i never even knew existed.  they believe that the host has a heart of gold and is the best thing that happened since... oh, i don't know... sliced bread.  they have expressed unbelievable loyalty to one man, which in my opinion, we could use as an example.  this is the kind of loyalty and pride we need to show toward our country, no matter how bad any situation gets. too bad they showed allegiance to the wrong person. anyway, these people have shown exactly what they are willing to do in defense of what i guess they see as their messiah.  these people have shown exactly what kind of audience the program caters to... those stricken by poverty and thus, deprived of the proper education (come on, the vocabulary is a dead giveaway). i admire how they staunchly and blindly defend their idol and yet, i cringe at how many palengkeras and jejetrolls are actually out there.  the number is overwhelming.

idol -- now that's a term to describe the host.  in history, before celebrities and superstars, an idol is considered as a representation of a god used as an object of worship.  sadly, the host is a representation of money and it shows how supporters of the show worship money.  i mean, how many people would degrade themselves, say that their lifelong dream is to hug this host for a few thousand pesos?  sure, it's easy money.  i, among others, know how hard you have to work to earn five thousand pesos and no ordinary employee makes five thousand pesos in those five seconds that you hug the host.  but i was never a fan of easy money.  i was raised to believe that you work hard for your money, because that is the only way you can respect yourself and with that, others will learn to respect you.  maybe it's the positive thing that came about my strict catholic upbringing that made me believe that fast money, more often than not, comes at the expense of your soul.  sadly, this belief has been affirmed by shows like the one i'm talking about.  

this random rambling boils down to one thing. this whole thing comes down to how poverty has affected this country.  it has crept silently from the "other side of the tracks" to the entertainment industry.  it's sad how people get caught in a stampede (literally) and die (literally) in line for entrance to a show that gives hand-outs instead of actually going out there looking for gainful employment.  i don't remember which wise man said, "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."  shows like the one i am referring to, where majority of the program is about giving out money does not teach any person values.  it only teaches one to rely on dole-outs.  it gives a man a fish.  for lack of better words (and i cannot say the phrase out loud without cringing because it sounds mata-pobre, palengkera and so unbred), "tinuturuan ang tao na maging mukhang pera."

this whole "scandal" brought a lot of issues to light: poverty, child abuse, filtering entertainment programs, breeding, good taste, lack of education, professionalism and basic human conduct.

i respect the celebrities who took a stand.  

i commend the government agencies that immediately took action to resolve this situation.

i will definitely be buying products from sponsors who pulled out because like many, i have been disgusted by the video that went viral on youtube.

i admire the passion showed by both sides, although there are some words that i may not agree with (mostly four-letter ones).

i think that the network and the sponsors have learned their lesson.  hopefully, they will think of the risks of being associated with anything that may lead to another outcry like this before considering profits.  

i am praying that the host and others like him be taught that money will not solve this particular problem. i hope the egos that need deflating be squashed (yes, i feel strongly about this).

i wish i could do more.

but for now, my words are all i have.

according to a former child star on twitter: Ang hinangad daw ni Willie ay makatulong sa tao.  So did Mother Teresa... and she didn't need money or a television show to do it.

i have been hit by jejetrolls before this google account-blogger merger. hence, i am now writing my disclaimer for any and all future trolls that may have violent reactions to what is written here, assuming they took the time to internalize and fully understand it.

fine, they may attack me and the things i wrote in this entry.  but i am entitled to my opinion. and so are they.  any defense i may have will fall on deaf ears.  i admittedly cannot please everybody.