WILLY: Coincidence or Karma

WILLY: Coincidence or Karma

Sakyong Mipham once said that like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it- And Willie Revillame is definitely a victim of very bad karma. Do you remember certain events prior to the Jan Jan Estrada mishap? I’m talking about Mr. Revillame’s irreverent live phone patch with his former best friend, John Estrada.

Revillame was seen talking to John Estrada, live on his show, TV5′s Willing Willie. The egotistical game-show host was heard saying; “Pag nag-Channel 2 ka at nag-noontime show ka dyan, wala kang kaibigan na Willie. Masakit ‘yang gagawin niyo sa’kin dahil inayos ko na, nag-meeting na ko kagabi, tungkol sa noontime show dito [TV5]. ‘Yun lang.” he said. “Hindi na ko pupunta sa kasal mo [John's wedding], maghanap ka na ng ibang best man.”

Less than a month after the John Estrada brouhaha, a younger Jan Jan Estrada entered Willie’s life.

The six-year-old Jan Jan Estrada caught the attention of netizens when he was seen gyrating with tears in his eyes in Willie’s show. Netizens went up in arms and later several sponsors of the highly-rated show suspended their placements in “Willing Willie.” Fellow blogger Paul Farol wrote in his http://pinoybiz.blogspot.com/ :

Just got an e-mail from Sol Liboro, Consumer Relations Manager, Procter & Gamble Distributing Phils. It announces that P & G has suspended advertising on Willing Willie.

We would like to let you know that P&G always strives to advertise on programs that align with our values as a company and with our purpose to touch and improve life. We routinely monitor the media in which our brands' messages appear and make advertising decisions that meet our policies and achieve our goals. As what we have mentioned in our first email, we are taking the Willing Willie case seriously and have been working closely with TV5 on the incident that happened in the said show last March 12, 2011. We would like to inform you that we have suspended advertising on the show beginning April 7, 2011 while the incident is being reviewed and investigated by authorities.

Shane Mosley reaches out to Filipino fans, tweets in Tagalog

Shane Mosley is using a different psyche-war approach in his upcoming fight with Manny Pacquiao. While others would retort to trash talking and the like, the two boxers thus far have been cordial towards each other. Mosley now is even trying to reach to, and maybe win over, Filipino boxing fans by tweeting in Tagalog.

Under the Twitter name @SugarShaneM, Mosley first tweeted, “Hindi ko nais maliitin ng isang mandirigma Filipino ako igalang ang kanilang espiritu,” which could translate to “I don’t belittle the Filipino warrior. I respect his spirit.”

He even sent some love to all Filipinos and tweeted “Pagpapadala ibig at paggalang sa mga tao ng mga Philippines,” (Sending love and respect to the people of the Philippines) and “I tumingin forward sa magandang malinis na laban,” (I’m looking forward to a good clean fight).

Though obviously using Google Translate evidenced by the loose and direct translation of the sentences, Filipinos nonetheless appreciated the effort of Mosley and in fact endeared him to some of them.

Mosley and Pacquiao will meet on May 7, 2011 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas for WBO welterweight championship.

Senator: Manila needs 87 more fire stations

A fire that broke out in Quezon City on Monday morning underscored the Bureau of Fire Protection's (BFP) lack of firefighting equipment and facilities, a senator said.

Senator Edgardo Angara said BFP needs at least 87 more fire stations in Metro Manila to meet international safety standards. Citing BFP data, Angara said Metro Manila has 127 fire stations.

"Right now, it’s up to the local leaders to ensure that their constituents are protected from this kind of hazard," he said, explaining local governments pay the upkeep of fire stations in their area.

At a recent Senate hearing on disaster preparedness, the BFP said it would be helpless if a fire broke out at the Pandacan oil depot in Manila.

BFP Superintendent Joselito Cortez of the Fire Suppression Operation Division said they do not have high-power hoses to deal with a fire at the depot. The fire bureau added it only had 12 chemical hazard suits to protect its firefighters.

Senators Loren Legarda and Juan Miguel Zubiri promised to push for a bigger share of the 2012 national budget for the BFP.

By Jonathan de Santos

CYBERSPACE ruined WILLIE!

“May this serve as a warning to other would-be celebrities yearning to follow in Revillame’s footsteps as well as to their handlers and network bosses… It was via Facebook, Twitter and similar networks that Filipinos with access to the Internet were able to form a consensus… The traditional media actually had to play catch-up as the anti-Revillame movement gathered steam online. It soon became a development that none of the broadsheets, tabloids, radio stations and TV networks could ignore.”

BY: Dan Mariano

I seriously doubt if many—or any—of the critics of Willie Revillame were able to watch live the March 12 episode of his varie-ty show Willing Willie. Outrage over his maltreatment of a 6-year-old boy began to snowball only days later thanks to a video clip that ran for just 10 minutes or so and quickly circulated via YouTube.

The spectacle of the crying Jan Jan who was forced to simulate the lewd body movements of a macho dancer shocked Netizens who got to watch it. Within hours the video clip had gone viral.

Contrary to Revillame’s protestations, I don’t think ABC5’s rivals were responsible for the campaign to have both Willing Willie and its host pulled off the air. I have been monitoring the traffic of critical comments online, primarily through Facebook—although I understand the flurry of anti-Revillame remarks was much thicker on Twitter.

In fact, early on in the controversy the other networks seemed to be distancing themselves from the issue. I have little reason to doubt that the backlash was entirely spontaneous.

In his rant last Friday, Re-villame pinned the blame for his recent predicament on—not unexpectedly—his previous employer. The aim of his monologue was to dismiss this latest controversy around him as nothing more than an extension of his legal battle with ABS-CBN.

Revillame’s attempt to divert the public’s attention away from the Jan Jan episode has obviously had little effect that could be considered favorable to him. Rather than extricate himself from this storm, Revillame only succeeded in proving that he indeed deserves the lashing he is now getting from the typhoon of popular indignation.

Whether or not Willing Willie manages to return on air two weeks from now, the Jan Jan incident has shown the awesome power of social media.

It was via Facebook, Twitter and similar networks that Filipinos with access to the Internet were able to form a consensus. It was in cyberspace where they vented their revulsion over Revillame’s exploitation of a toddler and his pathetic elders, where they first aired their demand to have both the show and its host yanked off the air, where they announced a plan to boycott the products of Willing Willie sponsors and where the advertisers themselves sensed that the anti-Revillame backlash had become a genuine popular movement.

The traditional media actually had to play catch-up as the anti-Revillame movement gathered steam online. It soon became a development that none of the broadsheets, tabloids, radio stations and TV networks could ignore.

In North Africa and the Middle East, social media have become a powerful communication tool capable of sparking social unrest and actually toppling dictatorships. Here, Facebook, Twitter and the other online networks have persuaded some of the biggest corporations into withdrawing commercial support for a TV monster.

May this serve as a warning to other would-be celebrities yearning to follow in Revillame’s footsteps as well as to their handlers and network bosses.

To paraphrase Honest Abe, you may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time—especially if they already have access to the Internet.

Police rescue men and women from Cebu cybersex den

Poverty drove seven victims—four men and three women—to degrade themselves in front of web cameras of two suspected cybersex dens allegedly operated by a Dutch in the first-class northern town of Consolacion raided by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Police filed on Friday before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office human trafficking charges against Dutch national Eric Maurice Fons and his alleged manager, Rauline Villacastin, who reportedly eluded arrest when authorities swooped on the two suspected cybersex dens rescuing the seven victims.

“I was hesitant to do the work. But because of the dire need to earn a living to support my family, I forced myself to do the job,” one of the male victims said in his affidavit.

He claimed he was promised to have a salary of P15,000 every 15 days but was only paid between P1,000 and P2,000 for his “performance” at least thrice a week and about four hours a day. His “job” included exposing his private parts, masturbating and performing sexual intercourse in front of the webcam.

One of the female victims also said she was forced to take on the job because of poverty. All of them were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 15 Judge Samuel Malazarte, Senior Inspector Ricky Naron of CIDG said they raided the apartments rented by Fons in Barangay Poblacion following tips from a concerned citizen about the alleged illegal activities.

Police said two women were caught in the act performing lewd acts in front of a webcam and among the items seized in the raid were five desktop computers with complete accessories, one laptop computer, several sex toys and assorted documents.

By Junex Q. Doronio

MMDA, PNP ready for Holy Week

To ensure a traffic and accident-free observance of the Holy Week, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) laid down its plans and preparations under the Metro Alalay Semana Santa (MASS) 2011 that include the augmentation of the number of traffic personnel to be deployed at passenger holding areas and along major thoroughfares in Metro Manila.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency is expecting a heavy flow of passengers bound for the provinces – both for spiritual and leisure purposes – during Holy Week.

“Thousands are expected to spend the Holy Week in the provinces. So expect heavy traffic at exit points of Metro and transport terminals,” said Tolentino, during the agency’s radio program.

Tolentino said the agency will coordinate with several agencies in coming up with a contingency plan under the MASS project.

Also, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be conducting random check on passenger buses during the expected exodus of commuters to the provinces during the Lenten break this week to avoid fatal road accidents.

But Senior Supt. Edwin Butacan spokesman of the PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HGP), was quick to clarify that such activity is not a checkpoint but merely part of the assistance of the police to the commuters.

In fact, Butacan said policemen checking on passenger buses will be accompanied by their force multipliers from barangays in doing such activities in several key points of national highways especially in Luzon.

“This is part of our measures to prevent road accidents involving passenger buses. We have been implementing this since last year and proved to be very effective,” said Butacan.

Under such policy, Butacan said HPG policemen will flag down passenger buses and later board them in order to ask the passengers if they sense something wrong with the bus or if the driver is violating some road safety rules.

Butacan said they came up with the idea since there have been cases in the past wherein passengers would only make their complaints against the bus drivers after the accident has already occurred.

By ANNA LIZA T. VILLAS and AARON RECUENCO

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