Ryan Agoncillo and Allan K. opens “Bawal Judgmental” segment. Screenshot from Eat Bulaga!’s YouTube channel
As outpouring of support come out for Tito and Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon upon their arrival at the TV5 studio on Tuesday, the trio shared how they have fought to keep each one of their cohosts when their erstwhile production company, TAPE Inc. had wanted to ax them.
An emotional Joey de Leon narrated that TAPE bosses had wanted to remove some of them, as well as replace one of the show’s beloved segment, “Bawal Judgmental,” without thought to the difficult process that went with mounting each show.
De Leon applauded his colleagues’ efforts in handling the segments, which sometimes deal with “very difficult” and emotional topics. He said that what the audience does not see was the effort put forth by the hosts to ask sensitive questions to make the guests feel more comfortable and so as not to offend them.
“Si Maine, si Ryan, at tsaka lahat po sila, ang gagaling po nila magtanong. Ang hirap po nu’ng portion na ‘yon,” de Leon said, referring to cohosts Maine Mendoza and Ryan Agoncillo, as he held back tears. “‘Yung mga tanong na ginagamit do’n, e hindi basta tanong lang, dahil nga mag-iingat ka. Baka makasakit ka ng damdamin dahil ang hihirap nga nu’ng mga paksa do’n e.” (Maine, Ryan, and all of them, they’re all very good in asking questions. The portion is difficult to handle… The questions asked during the segment are not just any question, because you have to be careful. You might offend someone because the topics discussed are difficult.)
He also shared how the hosts are not fed questions by the writers, unless there are important questions they forgot to ask the choices or the people who could fit the episode’s theme.
Some topics that have been discussed ever since the segment started airing in 2019 include bullying, HIV, death, and young parenthood, among others.
One of the hosts mentioned and complimented by de Leon was Jose Manalo, who considered it a blessing that they’re able to work properly and speak in a way that isn’t offensive. He shared how when they’re hosting the segment, they don’t notice the things that come out of their mouths.
“Pero hindi po namin alam ‘pag tumayo na po kami ro’n, hindi po namin alam kung ano na ‘yung lumalabas sa bibig namin, na nakakapagtanong kami nang maayos, na hindi kami nakakasakit du’n sa taong kinakausap namin, lalo na po sa viewer[s] na baka tamaan sila,” he shared, who also mentioned how the hosts would have a discussion after they’re informed of the day’s topic.
(But when we enter the segment, we don’t notice the things that come out of our mouths, we don’t notice that we’re able to ask questions properly, that we don’t offend the person we are interviewing, and especially our viewers who might feel attacked.)
Ryan Agoncillo, who was also part of the segment, shared how dealing with heavy emotions from doing the show has become a lifestyle.
“I’m sure you guys are in families where when you can’t deal with the heavy emotions—ang bigat e—nung mga pinagdadaanan, dadaanin natin sa biro. Actually, lifestyle sa’min ‘yun, daily ‘yun e, two and a half hours [namin ginagawa],” explained Agoncillo. (It’s really heavy what people are going through, so we try to deal by joking around. Actually, it’s a lifestyle for us because it’s daily, we do it for two and a half hours.)
Agoncillo further said how he would tell co-host Paolo Ballesteros, “Naku, brad, uuwi nanaman tayong malungkot (Oh no, brother, we’ll be leaving feeling sad again.),” but the TV host-actor would add that from doing the show, you pick up lessons.
Meanwhile former Sen. Tito Sotto III also said to “give credit where credit is due” by extending their praises to the production staff for putting the show together.
Sotto had previously alleged that TAPE Inc. owner, convicted former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos wanted to replace “Bawal Judgmental” with something similar to a defunct segment that involved househelp because he wanted to form a party-list for helpers. EDV