THE HORRIBLE tragedy that took place at the Ultra last Saturday when a stampede killed more than 70 people and injured 500 others who were participating in the noontime television show “Wowowee” should not be surprising given the track record of the show’s host Willie Revillame and the ABS-CBN network in producing shows that exploit the desperation of poor Filipinos.
I have often written of the stupidity inherent in the games of chance that have always made TV noontime shows such a hit with audiences of all income groups. They have long been a staple of variety shows on all channels, promising housing lots, cars, furniture, appliances and cash prizes to a population starved of enough income to lead a decent life. That the contestants have miniscule chances of winning any of the big prizes is irrelevant to the psyche of those participating, or those wanting to participate. It’s the old mindset of gambling addicts who believe that one time or another they will hit the proverbial jackpot.
And the Philippines, lets face it, is a nation of gamblers addicted to the dream of easy money. There are millions of Filipinos who are always ready to give their best shot by betting some money on jueteng, on the slot machines in casinos or on TV game shows in the belief borne of economic desperation that winning will solve all of their financial problems without having had to work for it.
That “Wowowee” took this phenomenon to new heights is undeniable. Day after day, the whole show revolved around the circus of Revillame dancing around and singing his signature “Wowowee” song to a cheering studio audience, all the while collecting “donations” from wealthy Balik Bayans vacationing in the Philippines. While this collection of US dollars looked unseemly to many, prompting ABS-CBN to post a clarification before each show that the donations were purely voluntary, the host began doling the money out on air to poor participants.
This is where the equally unseemly voyeurism of watching Revillame night after night consoling contestants breaking down and crying while recounting their sad life stories, took place. Not only that, but he required them to perform like circus monkeys, either dancing or singing in a silly fashion, to the obvious delight of studio and home audiences alike, for a few meager handouts of $10 or $20 each. It’s what should be called voyeuristic pornography, as we could all watch these small moments of anguish and sadness, shed a few tears in solidarity and then safely return to our own lives feeling better for ourselves and the people we just watched on “Wowowee”.
The slinging match that is currently going on between ABS-CBN management and the Department of Interior is ridiculous and scandalous. Paying the funeral expenses of those who perished is hardly enough to get ABS-CBN off the hook of responsibility. If the network were serious about reforming itself it would cancel “Wowowee” and launch its own internal investigation of what wrong and who is responsible. Those found lacking should be fired and the network should implement a new standard of crowd management and control that it will use at all public events it hosts in the future.
But most importantly, ABS-CBN and other networks should refrain from offering limited chances for only a few people to win huge prizes. This is what triggered the rush of humanity at the Ultra in the first place. It is similar to the stampede that happened in Jeddah in August 2004 at the opening of the new IKEA furniture store. Ads in newspapers promised coupons worth SR1,000 (P14,000) each to the first 100 shoppers through its doors on opening day. The result: Hundreds of people showed up, some camping overnight, and three people died in the resulting rush to get into the store. I know as I was there.
Filipinos should also be weaned off this hope of one day winning the jackpot and having all of their money problems solved. This only happens to an extremely miniscule number of people. Instead, working hard and saving money should be encouraged for those Filipinos who already make enough money to stay above the poverty line. This culture of gambling only enriches the jueteng lords and impoverishes millions of Filipinos who can barely afford to be losing money through gambling.
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go and watch GMA instead. =) i was watching Walang Tulugan (:P i know, i know) last night for the first time here in KSA
ah, but with the wage gap, and high unemployment rate, what is the alternative?
I am American, married into a large Philippino family. Thanks to my husband, most of them have an education...alas, half of them work overseas for lack of well paying local jobs...
My father was in a union in the US...so as a blue collar worker, they fought for a living wage...and he gradually worked his way up from manual laborer to clerk to supervisor...
But here, how can people succeed, no matter how hard they work? The big families have a monopoly on business that is not even good capitalism...
I completely agree with you Rasheed. I am a filipino residing in Europe and I have seen these shows with its host, who really makes fun and makes use of the poor people for fun. It breaks my heart to see shows like these where the host, Revillame makes fun of the people as his expression of extreme cynical sense of humor. The worst part, ABS-CBN tolerates it! I am extremely saddened with the incident but somehow, it had to happen because otherwise, we would not and probably never express how the society feels about this game show, sad to say, people had to suffer first in the stampede incident. In a society like the Philippines', it probably takes a higher form of intelligence to know the difference of HAVING fun with the poor and MAKING fun OF the poor.
You've hit the jackpot there. I just hope everyone will learn something from this.
i don't think you can truly understand what a person feels if you are a person with a different breed from the person you are making comments. your ideas are not the same as with them. you cannot fully understand them.
i agree with what you have written. seems like most people nowadays would go for that easy money instead -- whether it would come from a noontime show or even through some get rich quick money scheme. why there's too many pyramid/ network/marketing companies nowadays? why i always notice that long queue at sweepstakes booths at various parts of my city? seems like hardwork is not the way anymore. the tragedy at ultra always brings back to mind the adage "..give a man a fish, and he will not starve for a day..."
congratulations. your article really said it all.
regards
i've emailed you a reply...
FM
hi. i have been a fan of noontime shows but never abs-cbns'. you are right, abs is known to have been exploting the poor to make money. making the audience humiliate themselves in so many ways. now i understand why none of their noontime shows lasts. to me, it is hoping easy money both sides. abs from the poor, poor from abs. not to mention, abs-cbn's financial status now...
cmon abs, think of a better way. you have been "palpak" all the time...and please, do not get willie anymore. have some palabra de honor. you terminate his contract, you suspend him, and yet after a couple of talks, he's your best choice for a host. what the ???
sad and angry -- but what is new? only in the Philippines -- reason why we left the country.
Im sad and angry -- but whats new? ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES.
noone expected people to die in this stampede but it happened. I feel anger and sad at the same time for well off filipinos who try to capitalize on less privilege filipinos for show ranking and power --what can I say -- ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES.
i like your article. ^____^
Sorry about that. It was a honest mistake. I have now changed Willie's surname to Revillame. Thanks for catching that.
Totally agree with you on all points. Senseless tragedy it was.
By the way, the Wowowee host's name is Willie Revillame. Willie Nepomuceno is a comedian and is known for his impersonations of former presidents and other politicians.
minor correction, the host is willie revillame (not nepomuceno).
It's Willie REVILLAME, not NEPUMOCENO. I don't agree with the "exploitation" bit. Having a show like "Wowowee" was merely an economic issue: there was a need/want for it, the network provided it. The show's contestants were not being exploited - they volunteered their personal information, and understanding the Filipino culture, it's likely that they're happy that they're able to share it; and the silly dances and performances would've been more fun than embarassing for them. The fact that there were millions of TV viewers watching, both locally and overseas, is probably less about "voyeuristic pornography" than "personal empathy". And as a bonus, the show provides hope to Filipinos' feeling of hopelessness. It probably made the mistake of providing TOO MUCH hope, but the Philippine government contributed to that by being hopelessly hopeless. There's no doubting that there was some negligence somewhere. But there was no exploitation. And had this tragedy not happened, we'd still be singing praises to the program (I was told that either the program or the host was given some tourism award recently). The show's producers should be penalised for their negligence, but the show should not be cancelled. I believe it does more good than harm. As for the "working hard" bit, we're talking about the Philippines here. Hard work is no longer enough.