in defense of willie

reading today's showbiz stories from manila, i couldn't help but be outraged by the sensationalized coverage of this rather non-issue involving variety show host willie revillame and the remarks he made during the wake of tita cory.

on air, willie berated his staff for inserting a footage of the cortege showing the tranfer of tita cory's casket from the la salle greenhills gymnasium to the manila cathedral while the show was in the middle of their racy routine. that was his mistake. and although he immediately apologized and explained that his outburst was trained towards his production staff - he wanted them to cut wowowee off the air and focus on the coverage instead, the audience took it negatively.

damage has been done; his apology snubbed.

today, more than two weeks after tita cory has been laid to rest, the issue continues to haunt willie. he has been missing from the popular noontime show "wowowee" for almost the same time yet people continue to milk the issue.

willie is even reported to have submitted his resignation letter to the abs-cbn management and has asked that his contract with the network be rescinded (see this story from the philippine star today http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=497293&publicationSubCategoryId=70).
the family of tita cory, through kris aquino, has issued a statement stating that they have forgiven willie. but the filipino public have not.

i hate to come in defense of willie. he has an ego. but i admire him for his success. his story is actually an inspiration to everyone who goes through life's oft-called cyclical pattern. there was a time when he didn't have nothing and he was able to get through it; reinventing himself to eventually become the most popular filipino host to filipinos overseas.

willie is considered to be one of the richest men in the philippines. he commands a million pesos per episode. he makes $300 thousand bucks for his every show in the US and he makes millions more from his commercial endorsements.

he is too succesful that everyone wants a piece of him now. that's what makes me sad and outraged. give the man a break. sure, he has an attitude but doesn't everyone have?