Boy Abunda: ‘I’m Not Manipulative’
Posted By www.BoyAbunda.net on February 20, 2010
CEBU, Philippines – Through a blog post now being widely circulated in online forums, Boy Abunda finds himself at the center of the controversy over the alleged manipulation of the “Pinoy Big Brother” big winner results.
The blog post entitled “Did Boy Abunda manipulate the Big Winner vote?,” which originally appeared in chuvaness.com, accused the popular TV host of carrying out for ABS-CBN a “character assassination” and “demolition job” on Cebuano housemate Paul Jake Castillo through his line of questioning, as he grilled all five remaining housemates on the eve of the Big Night last Feb. 13.
The blog said that since Paul Jake was already tipped to win as he was leading in text votes as shown four days before the Big Night, Abunda was “coached” on what questions to ask that would ensure the victory of the network’s purportedly favored housemate—referring to the big winner, Melai Cantiveros of Davao City. Paul Jake came in second when the final voting results were in.
Abunda initially didn’t want to address the controversial blog post, as he didn’t want to dignify the issue. But when he came to Cebu for a visit to University of San Carlos to meet up with the Tingog Carolinian student party last Thursday, he decided to speak out on it for the very first time in an exclusive interview with The FREEMAN Entertainment.
“I was really shocked when I heard about it. Di namin pinapansin kasi yun because if you do it, you’ll have to answer every complaint of every PBB housemate in the world,” he said.
“But as one of my friends from Star Cinema said, pero Boy, the issue here is manipulation. So, how do you answer that? I’m not manipulative. I’m very confrontational when I fight my battles, meaning, I fight head-on. I do not manipulate, I go to the frontlines. I’m a good warrior, there are battles I fight, and there are battles that I don’t. But I want to take this chance also to talk about it, as a lot of things have been written already about it.”
He said that that the reactions, including the most rabid ones, come with the territory. “It is a contest, a highly contentious contest, so we understand that. I used to be a judge for ‘Star Circle Quest,’ and you can only imagine the number of mothers coming to us, wailing and ranting. So I’m used to it. But it needed to be addressed as manipulation is news.”
Abunda said that after he accepted the request of the people behind PBB to interview the Big 5 the night before the Big Night, when the winner was to be named, he had to request for brainstorming sessions.
This request was made because, according to him, “this is one ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ that hindi ko masyado napapanood kasi by that time that it shows on air, I’m in my dressing room in Showbiz News Ngayon. We go into the studio, we would see what’s happening in the house, but there is no audio. So meaning, I was not familiar with the contestants.”
“So when they told me to do the interview, which was supposed to be the big reveal, the challenging part about it… they were saying na sana, you’ll be able to ask questions that were not tackled in the four months that they were in the house. So, I thought what else can I ask?”
“I asked for two meetings because number one, I had to know what questions have not been asked, and number two, I don’t know them. Alam mo, there was a time, a few days before the interview, we were in the PBB house with the staff, and I had to ask them sino diyan si Johan Santos, si Tibo Jumalon, si Jason Francisco…I would memorize them all. Melai was, of course, easy to remember because she was the only girl.”
Abunda said that just like his previous interviews, he thoroughly prepared for this one by doing his research and crafting his own questions—denying he was coached by the network. “I have total freedom. My network does not in any way manipulate me, and I wouldn’t allow that. For the interview, not a single question came from the network.”
He continued, “It has been my habit as an interviewer that I do research, I ask, I make phone calls, I do free interviews, in other words, I don’t talk down or condescend any interview. Pinaghandaan ko yan through two brainstormings with the staff because I wanted to familiarize myself with the Big 5.”
Abunda, nevertheless, admitted that if there was one housemate that he was somehow familiar with, it would be the Cebuano housemate Paul Jake. “If there was any indirect relationship with anyone, it was Paul Jake, because his family owns Casino Rubbing Alcohol, and I negotiate with them on behalf of Kris Aquino (endorser of Casino).”
He continued: “So these are the facts… You can watch the interview online, but I’ll just mention my questions here in passing. Like Tibo, I asked him if he was afraid of Paul Jake, or yung paiyak-iyak niya or ang kabaitan niya, was this a strategy to get votes. To Johann, I ask: hypothetically, if you have HIV, what would you do? About indecent proposals and ano palagay mo sa mga bakla? Then for Jason, mabaho daw ang paa mo, ang dumi-dumi mo, ang tamad-tamad mo, ba’t mo sinisigawan si Melai. I also asked Jason that if PBB didn’t happen at masalubong mo si Melai, liligawan mo ba siya? Sabi niya hindi. Then to Melai, about the pagbubugbog. So, I ask the toughest questions possible.”
“Now these were my questions for Paul Jake… I started with, you come from a very hardworking family, and you’re very well-off, what is the biggest disadvantage with being rich, and I probably followed up with, was it a sin to be rich. Second question, ito yung pinaka-ano… I mean I cannot be accused of manipulation for this. I asked him, you’re not used to the hard life, let’s talk about learnings. What did you learn from the house?
“Number three question: Crush ka ni ex-housemate Sam, and in one instance in the house, you mentioned you were going to get her number, magkakaproblema ka kayak ay Denise, the girlfriend? You know, pa-cute na question. And then there was a standard question of why should I vote for you, and why should I not vote for the four.
“Then that question from the research. I asked, you went to wild parties as a young man, etcetera, and so what was the logical follow-up to that? That was the sixth question: did you do drugs?
“He probably had 10 to 15 seconds to answer the question, and he managed, saying yes, I did, and I said ‘Thank you for the honesty…’ I was fascinated and impressed by his honesty.”
Abunda also stressed that after a commercial break, he went back to the Cebuano housemate, asking if he wished to expound on his answer considering that the question was sensitive and that they ran out of time during the initially allotted interview.
“He was the only one among the candidates, whom I went back to so that he could explain and he did. I don’t know how in the world can I be accused of manipulating? What do I have to gain? And I don’t know Melai, I don’t know Jason, I ask my questions the way I ask my questions. That’s the story.”
Should the issue of discrimination be raised against him, he said, “My God, I’m Waray, I don’t play favorites. But if you want to go by this logic, or what is probable, hello, some of my bestfriends are Cebuanos…I love Cebu.”
“So that’s it. I’m not bothered, there is nothing to defend. I am surprised because the accusation is totally, totally outrageous, and baseless. I did not manipulate to answer the question again,” he ended.
First Posted: philstar.com
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