What the Government Can Learn from Eat Bulaga’s Success

33 years, 3 tv networks, dozens of awards, 2 records in Philippine TV (longest running noontime show and first tv show to be franchised by another country – Eat Bulaga Indonesia), millions of entertained viewers daily, that’s Eat Bulaga for you.

From its humble beginnings, nobody expected not even the TVJ trio that they would come this far. They started out as mere nobodies and clashing head on with the then popular noontime show, the defunct “StudentCanteen”, it’s quite unbelievable how Eat Bulaga becomes the iconic show that it is today. You are not a Filipino if you haven’t watched Eat Bulaga.

Will buy this one as an advance Christmas gift to self :)

There’s not much secret to their success. Their hard work, creativity and adaptability are being shown on national tv 6 times a week all year long. It’s not actually what they do but how they execute their show that makes it rise above the rest.

And with this rich and long history of Eat Bulaga, there’s just much knowledge and lessons for everyone to learn. Even our government, if they’ll observe closely how Eat Bulaga conduct their show, if they apply some of them to their processes then success will also be within reach.

1.  The genuine concern they are showing to the viewers and being in touch with realities in life is one of the unique characters Eat Bulaga has been showing in the past decades. They always reach out to people to get the feel of what they really need and want. While doing it, we’ll never see them exploit their situation. Whenever a contestant tries to gain the pity of the viewers by sharing their “sad stories” and personal drama, EB brushes it off by doing something comical, gives the prizes and encourages them to work harder/finish their studies/start a business with the prize they received. Unlike with most politicians and other tv shows where photo ops with the poverty stricken masses while portraying their “concern” as part of their publicity is the usual thing.

2.  We can also see diversity in EB contests. They have segments for males (Mr. Pogi), Females (She’s got the look) and in betweens (Super Sireyna). Even for kids (That’s my boy and Little Ms. Philippines), extra sized ladies (Feeling Sexy) and for the not-so-good looking but very confident males (Feeling Pogi), Eat Bulaga also have them. They give everyone their chances but maintaining the balance that nobody can have everything . They do not discriminate whether you belong to the poorest of the poor, within the middle working class or even if you’re from a well off background. Eat Bulaga gives everyong the chance to win. We all deserve to win free-money right? This should be the mindset of the government with their legislations of bills. Just like the saying “The law must apply to all, otherwise none at all”.

Trivia regarding the "EAT BULAGA" title from the Henyo

3.  One specific idea that I like is with the “Bossing Savings”. This is a part of the “All for Juan, Juan for All” segment where Jose, Wally and Paolo give the winner a savings account. The amount is not disclosed to the viewers. They instruct the winner how to withdraw and that they should also try to save money with it. And at the end of the year and they were able to save and grow the money with their account, Eat Bulaga will give them an additional gift. This should be how the CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer program of the Aquino Admin be done. They should not just dole out cash to the needy but monitor and encourage them to grow this fund. They can provide further incentives (maybe a free government service or tax exemption) to those who made a living from the funds they receive thru CCT.

4.  Another important attribute we can observe is that the hosts act naturally. Especially the trio; Tito, Vic and Joey who never wear make ups in the show ever since, are always very candid in their hosting. They speak out their minds and they are very strict on game rules. And that kind of character commands respect. Hope our government does the same.

Though, Eat Bulaga is not perfect. They have their share of embarrassing moments, blunders and errors. And they were honest enough to accept all of these and then act on it rather than blaming others. There were host suspensions, public apologies, etc. But behind all these mistakes, the people are still behind them. And if only we have government acting like this, I just can’t imagine how the majority of the people cannot support it at all.

Salawikain at Kasabihang Dapat nang Limutin

Pag nanonood ako ng Little Miss Philippines sa Eat Bulaga, napapansin ko na yung mga kasabihan ngayon ng mga bata ay modern na at yung iba naman ay parang imbento na lang talaga ng mga magulang. Marunong na ring gumimik. Yung nanalo nga nito lang nakaraan, ang kasabihan niya ay eto – “Ang batang tabachingching tulad ko ay kinagigiliwan ni bossing! Mwah mwah, tsup tsup!” Cute no? Pero di ako masyado natuwa. Sumobra ata sa gimik, pero effective kasi nanalo. Magaling naman talaga yung bata at nakakatuwa. Mahusay ang talent at malakas ang loob humarap sa tao. Saka malay natin, balang araw eh maging totoong kasabihan na rin ito at isa na sa mga pinag-aaralan ng mga bata sa eskwelahan.

Pagpasok natin sa elementarya, madalas na ipa-takdang aralin sa atin ng ating mga guro ang mga salawikain at mga kasabihan nating mga Pilipino. Bilang bahagi ng ating Panitikan, marapat lang na may kaalaman tayo tungkol sa mga ganitong bagay. Mayaman ang ating wika pagdating sa mga salawikain at kasabihan. Karamihan sa mga ito ay kapupulutan ng aral.

Pero habang tumatanda, napapansin ko na parang may ilan naman na bukod sa parang wala akong makitang mabuting aral ay nakakapagpababa pa ng estado ng pag-iisip ng ating mga kababayan. Minsan e ginagawa pang excuse sa kalokohan yung ilan.  Tulad na lang ng mga ‘to:

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"Huli man daw at magaling, maihahabol din."

Naging panata na ito ng maraming estudyante na nagccram sa pagpasa ng mga projects, paggawa ng assignment o last minute review sa mga exams nila. Aminin ko nang kasama rin ako dun. Minsan e hindi naman talaga magaling, feeling magaling lang naman (kasama rin ako dun). Tapos, marami pang maririnig na kapag under pressure daw e mas lumalabas pa lalo ang husay at mas nakakagawa ng maayos. Malaking kalokohan. Mas masarap matapos ng mas maagap sa gawain at mas magiging produktibo at mas magiging mataas ang kalidad ng trabaho kung magiging mas maagap.

“Edukasyon lang ang tanging maipapamana ng ating mga magulang”

Pero tama naman, marami tayong mga hindi kasing palad na ipanganak sa mayayamang pamilya. Kaya dapat tayong magpasalamat sa magulang natin na nagsikap, naghirap at nagsakripisyo para lang tayo makatapos sa pag-aaral para guminhawa ang mga buhay natin. At yun naman ang punto ng kasabihang ito. Dahil nga napamanahan na tayo ng edukasyon, e dapat gamitin natin yun para umunlad tayo sa buhay at ng kahit papano e hindi na lang edukasyon ang ipapamana natin sa mga magiging anak natin. Pero bakit ilang henerasyon na e hanggang ngayon e gamit na gamit pa rin natin ang kasabihang yan? Kelan natin balak ihinto ang paggamit sa kasabihang yan? Imbes na mabawasan ang bumabanggit e parang lalong dumadami pa? Baka balang araw pag sinabi pa rin natin yan sa mga anak natin e sagutin na nila tayo ng “Nay, tay, sana sinamahan nyo na rin ng bahay at lupa saka kotse saka malaking savings sa bangko.”

“ Mas maayos na ako sa ganitong simpleng buhay”

Ano nga ba ang simpleng buhay? Marami sa mga Pilipino pag tinanong mo kung pangarap ba nila ang guminhawa sa buhay o yumaman, sasagutin ka ng “ok na ko dito sa buhay na simple”. Pero wag ka, pagkatapos mo tanungin eh puro reklamo naman ang ginagawa sa araw araw. Reklamo sa gobyerno, sa ekonomiya, sa maingay na kapitbahay, sa buisit na landlady, sa malupit na amo at kung ano ano pa. Eto ba yung simpleng buhay? Ang sarap sabihin na “ok na ko dito” pero ang problema, hindi tayo tapat sa sarili natin. Mas madalas na sinasabi natin ito dahil tingin natin ay wala na tayong pagpipilian at wala na tayong magagawa. Tinigil na natin ang mangarap. At yan ang tingin kong mali.

"Aanhin pa ang bahay na bato kung ang nakatira ay kwago. Buti pa ang bahay kubo ang nakatira ay tao."

Parang sa bansang ito na karamihan ay may maling pananaw tungkol sa karangyaan na tanging ang mga sinuerte o ang gumagawa lang ng ilegal ang puedeng magkaroon nito, itong kasabihan na ito siguro ang isa sa mga dahilan. Naaalala ko pa ang pagkakaturo nito na para bang sinasabi na yung mga mahihirap ang kadalasan na puedeng mabuti at marunong makisama sa iba at yung karamihan sa mga nasa loob ng bahay na bato o may kaya ay mga “snob” at di marunong makitungo sa kanilang kapwa. Dagdag pa sa mga teleserye na napapanood natin na parang dito sa salawikaing ito galing ang tema. Stereotyping ng mahirap at mayaman. Maling mali ang humusga ng kapwa ayon sa katayuan sa buhay.

"Naghangad ng kagitna, isang salop ang nawala."

Dahil dito, naging play safe na ang mga Pinoy. Iilan na lang ang may salitang “risk” sa bokabularyo. Dahil dito, ilan lang din ang mga nagtangkang magtayo ng sariling negosyo o kaya ay gumawa ng ilang bagay na may kalkuladong peligro pero maaaring magbigay sana sa kanila ng mas maayos na buhay.

“Ang taong nagigipit, kahit sa patalim ay kumakapit.”

Ilang mga holdaper at mga kidnapper na kaya ang nagsulputan sa kasaysayan dahil sa kasabihang ito? Para bang nag-eencourage pa at sinasabing normal lang na kumapit sa patalim kung ikaw ay talagang nakasandal na sa pader at gipit na gipit na sa buhay. Hindi ba puedeng magdasal muna at pagkatapos ay humingi ng tulong?

“Nakikita ang butas ng karayom, pero hindi ang butas ng palakol.”

Natural. Kelan ba nagkabutas ang palakol?

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Marami pang ibang mga kasabihan at salawikain ang napansin kong dapat na siguro nating ibaon sa limot. Mga kasabihang imbes na makatulong para patinuin ang pagiisip at kamalayan ng mga bata ay para bang mas lalong nakakasira. Sa murang isip ay para bang nama-mindset na natin sila sa ilang mga ideyang baluktot. Ito yung mga kaisipan na pumipigil sa atin para tayo ay magsikap pa lalo na paunlarin ang ating mga sarili.

Pag-ingatan sana natin ang mga bagay na pinapangaral natin sa mga bata. Sana ay lagi nating tatandaan ang kasabihan na “ang isang bagay na makita o marinig ng bata kahit isang pagkakamali ay nagiging tama kapag ito ay ginawa ng mas matanda”. I thank you, bow.

Kung nagustuhan mo po ang artikulong ito, kung maari po ay i-share ito sa iyong Facebook o Twitter account gamit ang mga button sa ibaba o ang floating icons sa bandang kanan. At i-like din ang ating Facebook page sa pagpindot ng "like button" sa may upper right at gayun din sa pagfollow sa ating Twitter account para sa updates sa aking blog. Salamat po.  

Stop Waiting for the "Right Time"

“I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over. “ – Warren Buffett

I’m impatient. I usually can’t wait for the results of what I’m doing. I just need to get to the end of it and know whether it’s a success or a bust. But hey, I think I’m improving on this department bit by bit. I get a little patient on a lot of things now. Well I hope so. I can’t wait to see myself….oops!

We all want to reach the plateau. THINK BIG! That’s what we usually hear and read on topics about success. True enough that if a person can’t visualize a big dream, what more to reach it? But most of the time, people are stuck in there. People spend their time day dreaming about the experience they may have once they get there. Just like when we’re out with our buddies talking over a bottle or two, we usually hear people talking like this: “You know what, I really wanted to start up this thing. I am very interested about it since I was a kid. I love to begin doing that, probably one of these days. Blah blah blah….”. Then the other guy replies with his own sets of “interests and plans”. Yet, after the drinking session, the next day comes like they had never talked about anything. Then on their next meeting, they discuss the same things all over again. Sounds familiar? Almost all of us wish to be doing something rather than the situation we are in today. But only a few act on it. And here’s the reason why.

We are so obsessed with results. Who doesn’t love winners anyway? The stigma of losing in our society seems unbearable as this is the era where kicking someone who’s down and out becomes a norm. We idolize those people on top and forgetting that on their way up, they had failed many times. We forget that these people began from the bottom just like most of us. But rather making it as an inspiration, a lot of us make excuses by saying that their situation was different than ours and that they had the odds mostly on their side. I agree that each scenario is different but success was never an assurance to anyone.

Thomas Edison never made the bulb in one try. Only a few cares about Warren Buffett’s investments in his first decades in the business scene. Henry Sy’s family went to the Philippines with almost nothing that they couldn’t even buy him a pair of shoes. Albert Einstein failed his entrance exam to a school in Switzerland making him an equivalent to a high school dropout. Manny Pangilinan was turned down on his first job application. But like what we usually say, then the rest was history.

We all want to take shortcuts. We're all looking for the “right time” to start on something. Then we are impatient of results. We all want success NOW. But looking at some of these successful peoples’ lives, they were “failures” at one point in time. But the common denominator for them is that, it didn’t stop them at what they were doing. They braved through the first small steps, those first awkward steps that most of us would not dare to try. We all wanted to take the “big leap” after “thinking big”. But that’s not the way it usually goes. We need to have patience and courage to make that first move.  Keep in mind that success is not just about being able to think big, but also the willingness to take small steps at the beginning of the journey.

If you want to write a novel someday, start writing now. If you want to own a food business someday, start cooking and learn more about it now. If you want to get promoted, improve your quality of work now. If you want to invest, start researching about it now. If you want to start a hobby, go for it now. The only thing that you need to stop now is “talking” about it. No more excuses.  Just start doing it NOW.

The Endangered “Reading Filipino” Species

I love reading. Or maybe it’s an understatement; I think I’m addicted to it. I rarely drop by at bookstores without purchasing at least one book. For me, it is an investment where the returns are in multitudes for a lifetime.  I don’t have discrimination on what to read. As long as it captures my interest, I’ll definitely grab it. My collections aren’t all that serious stuffs. There are even comic books in it. My first reading addiction by the way is with Filipino komiks that my mom bought weekly.

Many think that a person who reads much has this sense of confidence for knowing a lot of things. But in contrast, more reading comes with the realization that human knows very little of this world and that there’s still a lot to explore; thus the hunger to read more. The more books read the more intellectually humble a person becomes. While for those who read a few and contented with the knowledge they gain from it are actually those who are endangered being trapped in the thinking that they almost know everything. Thus with the saying “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. Probably, this is the main reason why we now have a lot of opinionated Filipinos who lack sound judgment and proper balance on their views. We now have less Filipino readers. This is a sad truth to what historian Ambeth Ocampo exclaimed, that “Rizal wrote a lot for a nation that does not read.”

During the yesteryears, reading was just a normal activity as what watching TV to this generation is. And now, I’m saddened by the fact that it is being regarded differently by some; three things, first as a trend, second as a status symbol and lastly as a total nuisance or waste of time.

A lot of people now read certain books simply because it’s the “in” thing. It’s like a genre that they aren’t even interested before but suddenly have the urge to read it because a lot of people already were. Bandwagon. Well at least, it might bring hope to those who were previously non-readers to have an interest in reading other types of books other than those which are “in”.  I hope that they don’t just treat reading as a fad, because fad fades.

Reading as a status symbol is another “culture” that is slowly creeping in to the Filipino’s subconscious. Some think and act that reading is only for certain social classes, intellects, professions, etc. Reading is for everybody and it should stay that way.

And worst than those two are the people who thinks reading is just a waste of time. And then goes saying that lessons can be learnt better on living their daily lives. I agree that valuable lessons in life can be learned by experiencing it. But isn’t it that most books share the experiences and lessons that the authors gained for the readers’ consumption? It’s better to learn from the mistakes of others rather than experience it again myself.

History tells us how reading changed our country in the past. Books, novels, propagandas that were read by people then changed the landscape of this country, mostly for good but some for bad. There were even times that our people were deprived the liberty to read the materials of their choice but now that we have that freedom, we seemed not so interested in taking advantage of it. There were also decades that reading is the number one past time and the primary source of entertainment of our populace, but that part of history is now long gone.

Like a pre-historic animal, those parts of our history are now extinct. The probability for them to be brought back is close to zero. For the animals maybe by DNA cloning or something artificial but naturally, it’s close to impossible. But reading is not totally dead. It’s not yet extinct, just endangered. We still have time to save reading as part of the normal Filipino lives. So while some people are shouting “save the dolphins”, “save the eagles”, “save the forest”, let me say “save the ‘reading Filipino specie’ from extinction”!



-- If you share the same sentiments and supports this advocacy for the filipino readers, please share this article on your Twitter, Facebook or other social network accounts via the the buttons below or thru the floating icons. And please like our Facebook page “The Ignored Genius”(check the Facebook applet on the right) or follow me on Twitter @ignoredgenius.  Please leave your comments as well. Thanks!

Kanya-kanyang Buhat

“Sana itinulong na lang nila sa mahirap.” Ito ang madalas nating marinig o mabasa na komento ng ilang tao kapag may mga nababalitaan tayong mga bumibili ng mga tingin natin e luxuries o luho gamit ang kanilang limpak-limpak na salapi. Sana daw ibinigay na lang sa mga nagugutom. Sana dinonate na lang sa charity. Sana binigay na lang yung pera sa mga nasalanta ng sakuna. Sa isang banda, may punto naman. Sa dami ng nagugutom, sa dami ng naghihirap ay para nga namang mahirap isipin na nakakayang mabuhay sa karangyaan ng ilan.

Subalit, may karapatan ba tayo para manghimasok sa ating kapwa kung paano nila gagastusin ang perang kanila namang pinaghirapan? Maaaring may ilan na sasabihin na ninakaw lang o nakuha ang kanilang yaman sa maling paraan, pero ganoon na lang ba talaga kadaling humusga?

Paano rin kung nagagawa naman pala nilang tumulong? Sino ba ang makakaalam kung tumulong ba sila o hindi? Kailangan din ba na ang pagtulong ay pinapaalam? At kapag pinaalam naman, paghihinalaan na may hidden agenda o tatawaging pakitang tao lang?  At inaasahan ba natin na lahat ng pinaghirapan nila ay gagamitin na lang nila pantulong sa iba?  

Wala ka na bang ibang mai-comment?

Ang pagtulong ay isang mabuting gawain. Tinuturo na sa atin ito ng ating mga magulang mula pagkabata. Kadalasan ay itinuturo rin ito sa atin ng ating simbahan at nang ano mang sekta tayo kabilang.  At ang pagtulong ay dapat bukal sa puso. Hindi ito dapat idinidikta ng kung sino. Hindi rin ito ginagawa para magpakitang gilas.  At higit sa lahat, hindi rin ito dapat maging daan para ang isang tao ay umabuso at maging pala-asa na lang sa ibibigay ng kanilang kapwa.

At  kung may tao man na dapat nating diktahan o sabihan na tumulong sa kanyang kapwa, yan ay walang iba kundi ang mga sarili natin. Sa mundong ito, kanya kanya tayong dala, kanya kanyang tulak, kanya kanyang buhat. Kung may tumulong sa tin, thank you.  Magsikap naman kung wala. At kung ano yung gusto mong gawin sa yo ng kapwa mo, ikaw ang magumpisang gumawa sa iba. Golden rule nga di ba?

-- At yan ang madalas kong naiisip pag napupunta ako sa comments section ng mga balitang tulad ng "pagbili ng mamahaling kotse ni champion, nagdonate si businessman sa national team ng ilang milyon, nagpatayo ng malaking mansion si aktres, bumili ng sobrang mahal na diamond ring si doktora" at pagkatapos ay makakabasa o makakarinig ako ng paulit-ulit, napakababaw at walang kasense sense na komentong “sana dinonate na lang nya sa mahihirap”.  At kung isa ka sa mga ito, kapag ikaw na tao ka ay nanalo sa lotto ng ilang milyon ay wag na wag kang makakabili ng kahit anong mamahaling gamit dahil kung hindi, isasaksak ko itong comment mong nakakabuiset kasama ng item na binili mo sa iyong nakakasulasok at nakakaaburidong sumbong  (ika  nga ni Bonggang Bonggang Bongbong).

Better is not always the better

It’s 3 and a half months already since I started this site. This is my 50^th post. Currently, I got more than 6500 views, 241 comments, 115 Facebook likers, 18 Twitter followers and 15 Google followers for this page.

So what’s with all these numbers? No, I’m not bragging about them. It’s not even worth bragging as it is a below average growth compared to most in the blogosphere. But then, I’m very thankful to those who take their time dropping by here to read a piece of my mind and in return, share their own in the comments section.

So why am I posting all these statistics?

This morning, my curiosity brought me into searching for the most viewed YouTube videos of all time. There was a top 10 list that I found. All of them have at least 340 million views. All of them are music videos except for one. It’s a short amateur shot family film clip showing two very young kids having fun. Here it is:

Charlie bit my finger - again !

The first question I had after watching it was how come such video reached almost half a billion views? I believe that the uploader didn’t even think that it would reach a thousand at first. He might still be in disbelief up to now that this video reached 465 million views and counting. Compared to other videos in the list and also those which aren’t in there which were produced using a lot of money, time and effort, it’s very surprising how it surpassed all of them.

But then, if we look at the most successful, most known, must bought stuffs in the world, they are not necessarily the best things there is compared to their competitors. For example, probably you can think of 2 or 3 other fast food chains which offer better burgers than McDonald’s. I bet you can also name a couple of coffee chains that brews coffee which taste greater than Starbucks. And lastly, I know you can give a long list of brands of smartphones or gadgets that proves to be better than what the Apple has to offer.

This case is not limited to bigger brands only. Even within your neighborhood, there are people who are more popular than the other guys in town when it comes to the service or product that they provide, and yet there are arguably a lot of better options in the competition that the people are aware of. But still, these guys continuously grab the larger share of the market.

The truth is there are no specific recipes for such kind of success. It could be honesty, hard work, timing, right branding, proper networking, luck or any combination of these things. Therefore, it’s probably a mistake if we only focus on getting better at what we are doing and forgetting totally about the people whom we would like to share our products or services with.  This is reality and no one should be discouraged about it. Just keep in mind that no matter how perfect our products or services are, in the end, the public is still the one to judge. We might think that we have the better one, but still they may think otherwise.

Walalang POST 5: Magpakatotoo ka!

Isa ito sa hindi ko maintindihang konsepto sa pag-uugali ng tao sa panahong ito. Kadalasan kasi ngayon, kapag sinabi ng isang tao na “magpakatotoo ka”, kailangan ay may ginawa ka na hindi mabuti, hindi tama, hindi moral, hindi legal (mamili ka lang ng isa dyan o lahat ng yan) para masabing nagpapakatotoo ka nga.

Ang gusto kong malaman ay hindi na ba puedeng maging totoo ang paggawa ng bagay tama? Kapag nagpakita ka ba ng kabutihan, gumawa ka ng tama, sumunod ka sa batas, pinaglaban mo ang tingin mong moral at legal (mamili ka lang din ng isa dyan o lahat ng iyan), ibig bang sabihin niyan eh hindi ka na totoo sa sarili mo? Ibig bang sabihin niyan e ipokrito ka na? Eto na ba talaga ang konsepto ng pagpapakatotoo?