Will to Win

Against all odds, the Ateneo Blue Eagles lived to fly another day.

Bucking sloppy play (25 turnovers), poor outside shooting (1-8 from 3-point range), and a tenacious opponent (La Salle), the Blue Eagles hacked out a 65-64 win over the De La Salle Green Archers, setting up a rubber match this coming Sunday, with the winner of that game going on to the Finals to face the still-unbeaten and well-rested UE Warriors.

At first, it seemed as if La Salle was going to manage to put away their hated archrivals, especially after finishing the first half on a strong note, scoring 5 straight points to end the half with a slim 1-point lead. In the third quarter, the Archers poured it on, outscoring Ateneo 21-17, to take a 5-point lead going into the final quarter.

La Salle managed to keep the lead at six until the last two minutes, when everything suddenly unraveled. Ateneo team captain Chris Tiu hit what would be the only 3-point shot for the Eagles at around the 1:30 mark, cutting the lead of La Salle to three. Then, center Ford Arao beat the 24-second shot clock to put in a close lay-up at the 50-second mark, shaving the lead further to one.

Then, with seven seconds to go, Tiu drove in and made a perfect lay-up, finally giving Ateneo back the lead, 65-64.

However, seven seconds is still a lot of time, especially for such a slim advantage and with La Salle having the luxury of getting the last shot. But, Bader Malabes overshot a long 3-point bomb, and Rico Maierhofer, who grabbed the offensive rebound, also muffed his putback shot, as time expired. And so, Ateneo snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

It’s been a great season for UAAP fans, particularly for fans of both Ateneo and La Salle. After a year of having no Great Game to follow, come Sunday, the two rivals will have faced each other a grand total of five times! All during the 70^th season of the UAAP.

Now, the table is set for the penultimate match on Sunday. All the chips are down, and you can bet that both teams, along with their respective fans, will be gearing for war. Since both Ateneo and La Salle are fairly evenly matched, it’ll take a lot of skill and a lot of luck for the winner to emerge. In my case, of course, I’ll be rooting and cheering for Ateneo to make a return engagement to the Finals.

Unsurprised

As the ZTE Broadband deal soap opera continues to unfold, I cannot help but be appalled at the sheer lack of honor displayed by some of our public officials.

Top of the list is Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Ben Abalos. It's amazing that he still has the temerity to hold his head up high after being involved in a number of major scandals. From the Mega Pacific deal which was voided by the Supreme Court, to the Maguindanao election scam last May, to the bribery attempts during the ZTE scandal, Abalos continues to profess his innocence, even in the face of the evidence against him. If his pronouncements are to be believed, everything, from meeting the Zubiris at the height of the Maguindanao scam, to knowing the officials of ZTE, is simply coincidental, and should not be taken against him.

But, then again, after all these scandals, I guess I shouldn't be surprised any more. Abalos has shown that he doesn't give a damn if he is without honor, as long as he is protected from removal of office by the fact that he is a head of a Constitutional body, removable only by impeachment. I might be tempted to say that he should learn a thing or two from former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who, along with his entire Cabinet, resigned in the face of corruption charges and poor election results. But Abalos is too thick-skinned to take a lesson from Abe.

On the other hand, though, I am suspicious of the accuser's motives. Joey de Venecia III, the son of the House Speaker, who opened the lid on this can of worms, may be acting because his own deal was rejected. At the same time, being the Speaker's son, isn't he barred from entering into any deals with the government? Isn't he also liable in this mess he's created?

The Speaker himself, Rep. Joe de Venecia, Jr., seems to be playing both sides of the fence, at times supporting his son in his supposed crusade, but at the same time, professing his loyalty to the President. He'd better take a stand soon, because all this flip-flopping is doing him no credit.

I'm not sure what lies at the end of this scandal, but I hope that, if there is corruption proven, the officials involved would be prosecuted to the full force of the law. But then again, since this is the GMA administration, that's likely to be a pipe dream.

Flying High

In the end, the eagle managed to evade the tiger’s claws.

Ateneo put an end to University of Sto. Tomas (UST)’ title defense by winning the knockout match yesterday, 69-64, at the Araneta Center.

It was a hotly contested battle, with neither team gaining any clear advantage. Even when the Blue Eagles surged ahead to lead by as much as 10-11 points in the fourth quarter, the Growling Tigers clawed their way back to cut the lead down to a more manageable 4-5 points.

The turning point in the game was late in the fourth quarter, when Ateneo guard Eric Salamat came driving in with a lay-up which missed, but center Nonoy Baclao put it back in to give Ateneo a fairly comfortable lead going into the last minute or so. UST tried desperately to mount a comeback, but it was too late. Ateneo had dethroned them as champions.

Ateneo once more has a shot at archrival La Salle, but this time, the Eagles have to win twice against the Archers to go to the Finals, a result of losing both to National University, which forced a playoff with La Salle, and La Salle, which won the playoff for 2^nd seed. As long as the Eagles take it one game at a time, there’s a chance that they can manage to do to their rivals what has been done to them in the past, which is to overcome the twice-to-beat advantage.

Neither team has a clear advantage, as each of the three games played this season have been close matches. Technically, Ateneo, I think, has more big men, and could control the boards, but La Salle has more experienced playoff players, in the case of guards TY Tang and Jayvee Casio. Whatever the results of the game, it promises to be an exciting one for the fans of both sides.

As an added bonus, the junior teams are also slugging it out for the title. Already, La Salle-Zobel beat Ateneo by two points in the first game of their best-of-three match-up, and the Eaglets will be looking to even the score, and force a winner-take-all situation. I’m not sure about the schedule, but if the UAAP was astute, they’d schedule it on the same day as the men’s match, to provide an extra level of excitement.

Pardon?

As with other who have been following the Estrada plunder case, I cannot understand why people seem to be in a great hurry to pardon the former president, who was convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan last week. Rather, I know the pragmatic reason behind the hurry, but not the moral reason.

Pragmatically, Estrada still commands a good number of the common people, or masa, such that getting his support will be crucial for those who are eying the Presidency come 2010. Already, Senators Manuel Roxas and Manny Villar have expressed the desire that Estrada be pardoned and set free. This can only be a blatant attempt to curry Estrada's favor, as the two are supposed to be strong contenders in the 2010 Presidential race. It's ironic because both Roxas and Villar turned their backs on Estrada when he was ousted in 2001; Villar, in fact, as House Speaker, transmitted the impeachment complaint to the Senate, which set the whole EDSA 2 ball in motion.

However, if we are to send a strong message that crime doesn't pay, why are people so eager to pardon Estrada? It's not like he's actually contrite for his actions; to this day, he continues to profess his innocence. But the court convicted him, and, like it or not, he has to pay the price. To talk of pardon now emasculates the conviction, depriving it of any power to cow other corrupt officials; how can it be, if the convicted felon is simply set free immediately after his conviction?

Of course, there may be an underlying reason for this. The current President's administration is embroiled in a number of controversies, the latest one being the ZTE broadband contract, which is believed to have been gotten through corrupt means, rather than the legal manner of public bidding. Critics of the deal are pointing fingers at the President's husband, who seems to be the focal point of many an administration scandal.

When GMA's terms comes to an end in 2010 (we fervently hope), it is almost certain that there will be a number of cases filed against her, some of them looking pretty solid. If she and her husband are ever convicted, it is likely that politicians will move to pardon her, especially using Estrada's current situation as precedent. And thus do thieves protect their own.

Law of Averages

The law of averages simply caught up with the Blue Eagles.

Ace guard TY Tang finally found his shooting touch when his team needed it most, and La Salle finally managed to beat archrival Ateneo this season, 70-69, and, with the win, clinch the twice-to-beat advantage.

It all boiled down to whoever wanted it more, and the Green Archers played harder in order to avoid being beaten three straight times. Ateneo, on the other hand, seemed to be flustered due to the loss to NU last Saturday, and committed too many errors down the stretch. To cap it all, instead of going for the three-point shot at the buzzer, Zion Laterre shot a useless jumper to bring down the lead of La Salle to 1, not enough to win. I would have preferred it if someone, anyone took the three-point shot and missed; at least, there would have been a semblance of trying.

If there’s anything that will haunt the Blue Eagles after this season, it’s the fact that there should never have been a third game with the Green Archers before the Final Four. If Ateneo had beaten National University (NU) last Saturday, then the Blue Eagles would now be eagerly awaiting who would emerge from the knockout match between La Salle and UST.

However, it was not to be. NU soundly defeated Ateneo in overtime, and, with the loss, Ateneo must take the long road to the Finals, first through defending champion UST on Saturday, and then, once more, against its archrival. And the Eagles must beat the Archers twice to get to the Finals against early qualifier UE. Can they succeed? I’d like them to, but I’m not so sure. The way they played against La Salle was lackluster, and it’s uncertain whether the team can find the wherewithal to gird themselves for three more games. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Inside the Fratman Mind

Talking with a relative who was a fratman in college was enlightening in terms of getting an idea of how the fratman mind works. Unfortunately, it only deepens my loathing of the frat culture.

From the fratman point of view, apparently, Sigma Rhoan neophyte Chris Mendez’s death was partly because he probably didn’t want to quit, and Sigma Rho wanted him to do so, for whatever reason only the frat can fathom. As a result, the members made his initiation much harder, and this resulted in his death.

However, from the fratman mind, it’s not Sigma Rho’s fault that Mendez died; it’s Mendez’s fault for not quitting, and it is for this reason that Sigma Rho sacrificed him on the altar of hazing. Frats apparently are not in the habit of rejecting neophytes; rather, they will force the neophyte to make the conscious decision to quit. That way, they can always say that it was the neophyte’s decision not to join the frat, rather than the frat rejecting the neophyte outright. And, apparently, the frat will use any means necessary, even killing the neophyte, so that the neophyte will simply quit.

For me, a good number of fratmen are elitist cowards. They make the decision of who gets to join and who doesn’t, making the frat an exclusive club. And if they get caught with their figurative pants down, they can always go running to their alumni, their padrinos, who will use their collective influence (and, in Philippine society, this can be very impressive, indeed.) to protect these cowards who are unwilling to face the responsibility for their actions. All in the glorious name of brotherhood.

Frats which are very much into the physically violent side of hazing will continue to argue that it’s only through hazing that their brothers-to-be will be worthy of taking their rightful place in the frat, the rite of passage and all that crap. And if some die because of the process, well, as Lenin is supposed to have said, one cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

It’s the callous nature of frat culture that disgusts me, that human life is treated so cavalierly. And where are the fratmen who perpetrated this heinous act? Where is Ariel Paolo Ante, Mendez’s college mate, who lured Mendez to his death? They’re probably cowering somewhere, waiting for their padrinos to bail them out, or, maybe, they’re simply waiting for the heat on the issue to die down, so that they can show their ugly mugs once more, free of whatever stigma Mendez's death has placed on them.

To this day, Sigma Rho, which many believe to be responsible for Mendez’s death, continues to stonewall and deny that it had a hand in Mendez’s death. But, witnesses are starting to crop up and point fingers at the fraternity. Already, two distinguished alumni of the frat have condemned Sigma Rho for the death. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile has labeled the fraternity as a “trainer of thugs and killers.” Former Senator and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Jovito Salonga has resigned from the frat to protest the killing. I can only hope that other distinguished alumni add their voices to the clamor for the truth, but, I won’t be surprised if they don’t. After all, blood is thicker than water, and I’m sure a good number of Sigma Rho alumni will close ranks and protect what they believe is a threat to their twisted way of life.

The important thing here is that those of us who are concerned about this culture of violence must not let up in making our voices heard. Let there be no more Chris Mendezes. Let the violence stop. For if we do relax our guard, it’ll be sure as rain that there will be more deaths, more victims of this culture of violence.

Ateneo Loss

Before leaving for a dinner engagement, I was able to catch the closing seconds of the Ateneo-National University (NU) men’s basketball game last Saturday. And we had to leave with 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and Ateneo leading by 2.

It was probably a good thing that we left at that point, because during the dinner, my brother received a text informing him of Ateneo’s loss in overtime, 96-88. If we stayed, we wouldn’t only be late for dinner, but we would also be downhearted because of the loss.

The loss is a huge setback for the Blue Eagles, who were hoping to win to gain the second place slot, and the twice-to-beat advantage. Instead, the scrappy Bulldogs, who are out of the playoffs entirely, have forced the Blue Eagles to meet their archrivals from La Salle one more time before the playoffs, tomorrow, with the winner gaining the twice-to-beat. And I’m sure the Green Archers will be raring for revenge, having been swept in the elimination round, both of the games being hotly contested till the last second. It won't be an easy game for the Eagles, who let victory slip from their fingers last Saturday.

Here’s hoping that Ateneo can pull off another trick out of the hat, and beat the Green Archers a third straight time. Because if it doesn’t, the road to the finals will be so much longer, winding through the winner of the FEU-UST match tomorrow, and facing the Green Archers who will have the twice-to-beat advantage. It’s a road on which I’m sure the Blue Eagles will be working hard not to be detoured.

UE Sweep

Kudos to University of the East (UE) Warriors for having swept the elimination round with an overtime win over La Salle, 91-82. And they did it with guts and intensity.

It was a near disaster at the close of regulation time, with UE leading only by one, and Jayvee Casio was at the line for two. Luckily for the Warriors that he had a bad case of nerves and missed his first free throw at the close of the fourth period. Even though he made the shot that pushed the game into overtime, UE’s chances to win would’ve been more difficult if Casio had made both shots. In overtime, however, UE regained the poise that won them their previous 13 games, and blasted La Salle out of the water to capture the rare elimination sweep.

One of the things I didn’t like was that during the overtime period was that when UE was inbounding and the receiving player leaped to catch the pass, one of the La Salle players made a cheap shot and pushed the UE player was still in the air, sending him crashing down to the floor (if anybody remembers who they were, please let me know). It’s a reflection on what sort of character that player had when he committed that foul, which could’ve badly injured the UE player. It was a cheap shot because UE was winning at the time, and, as a result, UE got two free throws, plus possession, which buried the Green Archers even further.

With the loss, La Salle drops to third place, and will await the results of the Ateneo-National University (NU) matchup tomorrow at the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Stadium. If Ateneo wins, La Salle will have to wait for the winner of knockout game between Far Eastern University (FEU) and University of Sto. Tomas (UST) on Monday, and play a one-game playoff to determine who will get to face the Blue Eagles and their twice-to-beat advantage (which, by the way, is not a sure thing for Ateneo, as recent history has shown.). If Ateneo loses, then La Salle plays Ateneo on Monday as well, to dispute who gets the twice-to-beat advantage, and who will have to face either FEU or UST.

In short, it is imperative that the Blue Eagles stamp their superiority over the Bulldogs tomorrow, else their playoff picture will be very muddled. With a win over NU, Ateneo will cement its hold on 2^nd place, and everything it entails.

But the road to the championship will have to go through the Warriors, who will be doing their utmost best to remain unbeaten for the entire men's basketball season. In short, it ain't gonna be easy.

No Classes, Again

In anticipation of possible trouble, a number of schools, the Ateneo included, in the Quezon City and Manila have canceled classes for today. Still, I find myself here in school to take care of loose ends.

Former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada's plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan comes to a close today, with the release of the justices' decision. Whichever way the justices decide to rule is fraught with problems. If they rule him guilty (and, personally, I think they should.), his supporters, who , according to the Tribune's Cacho-Olivarez, are legion (in the strict Biblical sense?), will not cease to hound the current administration with their cries for "justice" i.e., mob rule. Already, surveys from the Social Weather Station (SWS) have shown that people would prefer that Erap be pardoned if found guilty, which only goes to show how short our collective historical memory is.

If Erap is acquitted, however, it will shake the legitimacy of having ousted him in the first place. The administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will find that its already meager credibility will evaporate like so much smoke. And the anti-GMA will be fully armed to try to take over and get rid of the President they hate.

Whatever the justices decide, I hope that they make their decision based on the evidence presented, and not because they are swayed by the voices of public opinion.

UPDATE: The Sandiganbayan has ruled that Erap is guilty of plunder. Predictably, the Estrada camp is characterizing the decision as having been rigged by the administration, but I, for one, am thankful that a sorry chapter in our history is finally getting a little bit of closure.

I find it funny that his son Senator Jinggoy Estrada accused the GMA administration of "conditioning the minds of our people" to indicate that Erap would be found guilty , considering that the Estrada camp, through their own propaganda movements (the Daily Tribune, for one), has been using exactly the same tactics to condition the minds of the people that the Erap trial is a farce for the past six years.

It's time for our country to move on from this trial, and, well, focus our efforts on making sure that GMA doesn't do any further damage to our country.

In a rare moment in recent times, the Ateneo Blue Eagles have swept the De La Salle Green Archers for this season’s men’s basketball.

I wasn’t able to follow the game, as I was busy taking care of family matters, but I was able to catch the slow motion instant replay of Rico Maierhofer’s put-back shot that would’ve sent the game into overtime; however, Maierhofer was still holding on to the ball at the close of the clock. As a result, the Blue Eagles escaped by the skin of their teeth, 89-87.

The ramifications of the game are huge, as the results have a big impact on the playoff standings. Now, Ateneo and La Salle are tied at second, with one game to go. Neither match-up will be easy: La Salle must try to break the sweep bid of powerhouse University of the East (UE), and Ateneo faces a National University (NU) squad out to play the spoiler’s role. The scenarios are as follows:

- If both La Salle and Ateneo win, then they will have to have a playoff game to determine which one has the coveted twice-to-beat advantage; for all practical purposes, in this scenario, Ateneo and La Salle will be playing a best-of-three series.

- If La Salle wins and Ateneo loses, Ateneo must hope that either University of Sto. Tomas (UST) or Far Eastern University (FEU) drops their remaining matches to hold on to the 3^rd slot, which means that Ateneo will have to beat La Salle twice.

- If Ateneo wins and La Salle loses, UE will automatically go to the Finals, Ateneo will have the twice-to-beat advantage, and La Salle will have to face the 4^th placer, either UST or FEU, in this case, in a one-game playoff for a chance to try to beat Ateneo twice. (Whew!)

Of course, it’s still possible that La Salle may protest the results, and claim that Maierhofer’s shot was legal, and that the game should’ve gone into overtime. Knowing La Salle, anything can happen at this point, and I probably wouldn’t blame La Salle for pulling out all the stops. Will the board rule in their favor this time, should a protest be filed? Your guess is as good as mine.

UPDATE: I've just gotten word that La Salle may protest the match, on the contention that Maierhofer was fouled as he made his shot. Maybe La Salle has a point, but, to me, filing the protest will just cement the perception that they're sore losers.

ASIDE: I didn't realize it, but the UE-La Salle match-up will be coached by the Pumaren brothers, Dindo for UE, and Franz for La Salle. While, according to insiders, both brothers will probably play to win on Thursday, a UE loss may be seen as one Pumaren helping another to get a better position in the Final Four playoffs. Probably won't be the case, though. If that happens, everything points to UST facing UE should a Final Four format be followed, and I'm reasonably sure that UE will want to clinch the Finals spot outright, rather than face a very dangerous Tigers team.

At any rate, for men’s basketball, it certainly has been an interesting Season 70, what with all the twists and turns it’s taken so far.

My hats go off to the Blue Eagles and their coaching staff, for having had the fortitude to come back from behind and give the Archers a black eye, one that will jeopardize their playoff standings. This win couldn’t be sweeter.

Culture of Violence

In February 1991, Aquila Legis neophyte Lenny Villa was beaten so badly during the fraternity’s initiation rites that it resulted in his death.

On December 6, 1994, University of the Philippines (UP) student Dennis Venturina, a member of Sigma Rho, was attacked by armed men, and beaten so badly he fell comatose; shortly after, he died. The armed men were members of Scintilla Juris, a rival fraternity.

On August 16, 1998, Alexander Icasiano, a neophyte of the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity, was beaten so badly during initiation rites, that it resulted in his death.

On February 19, 1999, UP student Nino Calinao was shot and killed in broad daylight, in what was believed to be a frat-related payback. Unfortunately, Calinao was not even a member of a frat; he was simply at the wrong place and time, standing close to the frat’s tambayan when he was shot.

Just two weeks ago, UP student Chris Mendez died from what was believed to be hazing-related injuries. Sigma Rho, the fraternity believed to be responsible, has yet to claim responsibility for his death.

Sadly, these are just the more prominent cases; the number of victims stemming from fraternity-related violence, whether injurious or fatal, is myriad. It is a bleak picture of our society, wherein such violence is not only tolerated, but even encouraged.

What is it about our culture that causes young men, with their whole life still ahead of them, to submit themselves to be beaten and hazed to the point of death? What is it about all-male groups, that violent treatment, whether mental or physical is the norm for being accepted into the group?

For some, it is the need to belong. For students who come from the province, or those who were loners in high school, joining a frat gives them an instant niche in college. There will be people who will make them feel welcome, and they don’t have to grope about blindly going through college life. Surely this is worth a little pain?

For the pragmatic, joining a frat offers “connections” that they can make use of when they graduate from college. Many frat alumni occupy positions of power in our society, and “brods” of these alumni will be able to find it easier getting jobs when they leave college behind. Also, when the fratman gets into trouble, he can count on his powerful “brods” to shield him, as is the case of Chris Mendez; no Sigma Rhoan is coming forward with information about the case, despite the fact that it was clear that Mendez was to be initiated the weekend he was killed. Surely this is worth a little pain?

It is not. Is it worth dying for? I’m sure that none of these neophytes think that they will die from trying to join the frat, but the evidence is there in the cold bodies of Villa, Icasiano, and now Mendez, lying in the ground.

Even non-fraternal organizations are exempt from such treatment of their applicants. When I was in college, I joined one of the more prominent Catholic orgs. There, the members went under the label of “men” and “ladies”, while the applicants were called “boys” and “girls.”

The “men” took the “boys” under their wing, and subjected them to what the “men” called “sessions”. What these “sessions” were supposed to do was to gauge the applicant’s willingness to be part of the org, but what they really were, were opportunities for the “men” to practice mental torture on the “boys”. I was the batch head of the applicants, and I was one of the first to be “sessioned.”

I remember being blindfolded, and being taunted and pushed around so harshly that I found myself hyperventilating; I remember that they had to stop for a while so I could slow down my breathing. I remember the taunts, and the harsh questions, as if I were a prisoner being interrogated. And I remember trying to make sense of it all, and I couldn’t. This was a Catholic organization, so why the brutal scare tactics? I was thankful when the ordeal was over.

Later on that year, I was told that there was to be a “final session.” I knew that I didn’t want to be part of that session, but, as batch head, I felt that I was compelled to do so; I didn’t want to let my batchmates down. So I joined the final session. But I was telling myself that I would do my utmost best to injure the first one who tried to lay a finger on me.

At first, it was a big game of hide and seek all over the UP campus. When we were finally caught, back went on the blindfolds and into a car I was placed.

While I was in the car, one of the members, a royal pain in the ass, roughly asked me a question. When I didn’t answer, that was when he tried to take me by the front of my shirt, and part of my neck in the bargain. That, subsequently, was when I took his wrist with both hands and tried to twist off his hand; I was that angry. Fortunately, for both of us, the other members had cooler heads and quickly separated us. Still, going through the final session soured my time in the org, and I limited myself to working with the org choir.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t even close to an actual fraternity initiation; I didn’t have the physical bruises of one who was paddled. But mental torture is just as bad as physical violence, and, for some, the wounds take longer to heal. And it was a while before I could be civil with those who subjected me to such an ordeal.

This was coming from a Catholic organization no less. Up to now, I cannot understand why such a mechanism should be in place; maybe some of the “men” were fratmen themselves, and could only consider those who had gone through a modicum of hazing as one of them. I can only imagine what it must be like being a fraternity neophyte; it would be a lot worse.

It seems that whenever Filipino males band together, there is a primitive urge to have applicants run the gauntlet of violence in order to be considered one of them, a brother in arms. But we are no longer living in primitive times, and, these fraternities cannot move forward and leave behind their culture of violence, then maybe it’s best to follow what Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago says, and simply abolish these blights on our society.

Busy, Busy Busy

It's been such a hectic week in school, what with exams to check, backlog to wade through and all, that I haven't been able to post anything this week until now. And, even then, this'll just be a quick post to let people know what's been up between the last post and this one. I'm trying to piece together a new post; if I'm able to bring it up to scratch, it'll be posted tomorrow.

Until the next time.

Wowowee: An Anatomy of a Scam

One of my co-teachers remarked that watching Joey de Leon and Willie Revillame go at it was like listening to Brutus and Marc Antony speak in Act 3, scene 2 of “Julius Caesar”. One made an argument based on reason (de Leon), and the other made an emotional appeal (Revillame). Which argument won through? Let’s find out.

To recap: About a week ago, on ABS-CBN’s “Wowowee”, during one game segment, called “Wilyonaryo” (how egotistical can one get?), a contestant was supposed to choose from a number of colored disks to win up to P2,000,000. After she had lost, host Revillame was supposed to reveal to the losing contestant which disk supposedly contained the winning number. Unfortunately, when he revealed the disk’s contents, it showed a zero, to which he said there was a mistake. It turned out that he was holding the number “2” sheet.

This brought forth a host of questions, first and foremost being, “Why were there two numbers?” Joey de Leon, one of the hosts of “Eat Bulaga” on ABS-CBN’s rival network, GMA, scored the mistake, and apparently accused the show and its producers of cheating the public. Notably, de Leon avoided mentioning the network or the show concerned, although it was clear what he was referring to.

Revillame, in reaction, went on a tirade during “Wowowee”, lambasting de Leon, and insisted that there was no intention to cheat the viewing public. Throughout the tirade, Revillame was visibly crying, which, of course, elicited sympathetic tears from the crowd.

In response, de Leon, during the next show of “Eat Bulaga” once more challenged Revillame (without publicly naming him or “Wowowee”) to come clean, to “explain before you complain.”

The management of ABS-CBN issued a video of ABS-CBN production head Cory Vidanes stating that what happened was a matter of “technical glitch,” owing to the fact that the “Wilyonaryo” segment was a new game. She ended by categorically stating that ABS-CBN has no intention of deceiving the public.

End recap

The following are clear to me:

First, despite the explanations, there’s something fishy about those two numbers in the contest disk. It gives the viewer the impression that the host can simply choose any of the disks, and skillfully insert the desired number into the disk. If this was the case, it is cheating most foul. It is deception on the part of the show organizers, and indicates that there is no intention of giving a big payoff.

Second, it is clear to me that Revillame’s rant looks like it was staged. Reading his body language, he looked like he was giving a performance, designed to elicit maximum response from the audience. Rather than wiping tears from his eyes, it looks like he was poking them in order to bring forth the tears; no wonder de Leon advised him to learn how to cry properly. Revillame was playing to the crowd in order to boost ratings. Never mind the fact that it was full of fallacy, and didn’t really make much sense. What was important was for him to show that he was emotionally affected by what was happening, kuno. And, sure enough, the crowd responded by applauding him enthusiastically.

Third, even though I’m not a fan of Joey de Leon, his arguments make sense. Why were there two numbers to begin with? If it was a technical glitch, it was a major blunder. Another point in de Leon’s favor is that he actually didn’t pinpoint whom he was accusing; he was merely making an observation. It was Revillame who responded with a personal attack, which was an indication that he let himself be affected by de Leon’s words. Guilty?

These game shows showcase what’s bad about our society. They give people false hopes, and foster in our countrymen the attitude that money can be easily had without working hard for it. They are essentially the modern-day equivalent of the Roman’s bread and circuses strategy to keep the common people happy. But, like bread and circuses, these shows do nothing essential to help the common people rise from their status; they simply drug the masses into believing that life can be better without sweating for it.

It makes me gag when Revillame keeps on parroting that he only wants to help people. The same way which killed a number of people last year? Thanks, but no thanks. If he really wanted to help people, then he should help by teaching them how to help themselves, rather than engage in shows that further erode our country’s values. Lord knows we get enough erosion from our politicians.

How will this issue play out? It remains to be seen. Already, various government agencies, notably the DTI and the MTCRB are washing their hands of the matter. Some senators are making noise about investigating the incident, although what laws they may pass because of it are unclear at the moment. Whatever happens, I’m hoping that the Filipino viewing public would open their eyes to the reality, but the cynic in me says otherwise.