By Farah G. Decano

 

NO, I am not one of Willie Revillame’s fans or spin doctors. He is crude with his manners, lacks gender and children sensitization, and yes, a braggadocio.

But when the very people whom he has helped join the recent fray in bashing him on social media, I cannot help but commiserate with Mr. Revillame.

The TV host has not done anything wrong lately.  He was just in the news recently because the management of the TV network that aired his program decided to suspend his show – to the delight of those who found his guts annoying and his arrogance intolerable.

Mr. Revillame is a living example of the very few who conquered poverty and rose to become one of the Philippines’ billionaires. There are those, however, who are not happy with real rags to riches story.  His narrative though is not the usual sheepish and martyred protagonist who eventually made it big in showbiz. His ascent to filthy wealthy status is unusual. He simply fashioned himself as the clueless smug who can win the hearts of the masses.

How does he win the common tao?  Easy.  On camera, he unabashedly brandishes a generous and sympathetic appearance towards those in need. After all, the continued patronage of the masses means the continuity of his income flow.

So, when Mr. Revillame was pounced on after he pleaded for kindness from the public due to his show’s suspension, he sarcastically clapped back at the recipients of his generosity who had the gall to bash him.  The game show host detailed how he had extended aid to them in the past.  He reminded them of the thousands and millions worth of assistance they had received from him especially during the time of pandemic.

To his credit, this nouveau is most likely generous for real to give away so much – even without the cameras.  Most old rich people I know are penny-pinchers which explains their accumulated wealth over time.

His on-air exasperation towards those who behaved like thankless wretches was described as “panunumbat.”  His grumbling beneficiaries of his largesse countered that if he were really sincere in helping people, he should not slap his good deeds on their faces.

In defense of Mr. Revillame, I do not think he was nanunumbat.  Panunumbat is when someone enumerates his/her past charities after he was refused help.  In Mr. Revillame’s case, however, he did not directly ask for any favor from them and thereafter was rejected.  Instead, he was in a very unfortunate state when his beneficiaries saw the opportunity to attack him on social media.  He perhaps felt he had to defend himself from his receivers’ lack of memory and ill-will.

Usually becoming a recipient of someone’s generosity must put the former in estoppel to join the bandwagon of tongue-lashing against the latter especially if she/he did not cause his present plight. Obviously, there are exceptions to this.

Ingratitude bespeaks of envy reigning supreme in the core of these unappreciative rats. Within their beings dwell green-eyed monsters that waits for the evil ecstasy of schadenfreude.

What left a bad taste in the mouth was when Willie Revillame went to the extent of enumerating the amounts he gave his bashers.  It appeared he was calculating.

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Please remember, however, that the rule does not apply to politicos.  We do not owe them our votes when they make us beneficiaries of government programs because helping the citizenry is part of their job. Necessarily, we must only vote for the most qualified leaders.  

If we feel that we owe the candidates something, which is how Filipinos are most of the time, perhaps we repay them in some other way.  We need not vote them into office.

I have said this before and I will say it again, “Nakataya sa ating pagboto ang kinabukasan.  Hindi natin ito dapat ipinambabayad ng utang na loob kanino man.  Tayo ay tagapangalaga lamang ng kinabukasan sapagkat ang nagmamay-ari nito ay ang mga bata at ang mga isisilang pa lamang.”

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