MANILA, Philippines – Comedian Joey de Leon, one third of the showbiz trio Tito, Vic and Joey (TVJ), addressed “bashers” who say they should give way to younger talents. 

On TVJ’s Facebook page on Saturday, June 24, De Leon said senior citizens like him and 74-year-old Tito Sotto should be left alone if they want to continue working. 

“Ang tao, hangga’t gustong gumalaw, pabayaan mong gumalaw. Kung gustong magtrabaho, pabayaan mong magtrabaho,” the septuagenarian said, in response to some netizens who say they’re already old and should retire from showbiz. 

(If a person wants to move, let them move. If a person wants to work, let them work.) 

“Malalaman ‘nyo ‘yan ‘pag tanda ‘nyo, kung umabot pa kayo dun. Kaya ka nagtatrabaho ‘pag tanda mo, hindi na para sa sarili mo yun, para na ‘yan sa ibang tao. Para na ‘yan sa pamilya mo, para sa kamag-anak mo.” 

(You will know that when you get old, in case you reach that age. The reason why you work when you get old is no longer for yourself, it’s for others already. For your family, for your relatives.) 

De Leon, 76, said in a press conference last week that they want to last six more years on television so they can reach the noontime variety show’s Eat Bulaga!‘s 50th anniversary in 2029. 

“Go for gold, go for old,” he quipped last week after TVJ signed a contract with TV5 executives led by businessman and sports patron, Manny Pangilinan.

He and Vic Sotto said they were happy that they were still able to find a new home after they left Television and Production Exponents Incorporated (TAPE) on May 31. TVJ had a bitter falling out with the Jalosjos family, the company’s majority owner, on how to run the show, including suggestions of TAPE’s new managers on how to make Eat Bulaga! appeal to a younger audience.

TAPE is the producer of Eat Bulaga!, and it has a blocktime agreement with GMA Network Incorporated until end of 2024.

Eat Bulaga! is celebrating its 44th year next month, but instead of having it on GMA-7, the show’s home for 28 years, it will be on TV5.

TVJ Productions Incorporated signed a joint venture agreement with MediaQuest Holdings Incorporated on June 20. During the signing, Pangilinan welcomed the “iconic trio” and said he hoped to do business with them in the many years ahead.

“We felt obligated, it was part of our duty, if they’re looking for a home, and for such an iconic entertainment phenomenon as somebody said earlier, it deserves a home, and it’s our obligation to provide them a home,” Pangilinan said. 

TVJ and other Dabarkads (Eat Bulaga! mainstays) are set to return on July 1, Saturday after a month of not being seen on television. On Saturdays, the show will be from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm; on weekdays, it will be from 12 pm to 2:30 pm.

As a result of the show’s transfer from GMA to TV5, ABS-CBN’s noon variety show, It’s Showtime, which used to air on TV5, will move to GMA’s sister channel on free tv, GTV, on July 1, starting at noon.

They will compete with TAPE’s Eat Bulaga! on GMA-7, now headlined by actor Paolo Contis and former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, in what will be a new noontime show war. – Rappler.com