Tito Sotto and Jose Manalo slammed for ‘homophobic’ advice on national TV

Maureen Marie Belmonte

<div><img src='' alt='052915-titojose_main.jpg' width='400' height='290' align='left' border='0'>Tito Sotto and Jose Manalo, hosts of the noontime show<i> Eat Bulaga</i>, were put in hot water by a lesbian mother due to the recent advice that they gave to a gay father.</div><div><br/></div><div>The incident happened on the May 22 episode of the show during their Problem Solving segment wherein a gay father using the alias Diamond asked for advice how he could spare his kids from being bullied because of his gender preference.</div><div><br/></div><div>Manalo’s advice was: “<i>Hindi mawawala yan. Hindi mawawala yan na darating sa mga bata yan … Ang solusyon, ikaw. Ikaw ang unang gagawa ng solusyon. Kaya mo bang—hindi naman binabago ang pagkatao mo; beki ka pa rin, yan ang gusto mo, nagkaanak ka—pero magagawa mo ba na hindi ka na mag-gaganyan ng hitsura? Pero beki ka pa rin</i>.”</div><div><br/></div><div>Sotto for his part added:  “<i>Sa madaling salita, ibalik sa closet!</i>”</div><div><br/></div><div>Seemingly convinced with the advice, Diamong then said, “<i>Kaya ko po. Kakayanin ko po siyempre kahit mahirap po talaga. Kakayanin ko po para sa mga anak ko.”</i></div><div><br/></div><div>Manalo, for his part, further told Diamond to be mindful of the fact that his sons might also end up being gay.</div><div><br/></div><div>“<i>Baka sabihin ng mga anak mo ‘Bakit tatay ko lang ba (ang bading)? Bading din kami.’ Mas nakakatakot ’yun,” </i>Manalo said.</div><div><br/></div><div>In response to that, Diamond claimed that, should his children come out, he would still continue to love and support them just like what his father did.</div><div><br/></div><div>Then Manalo quipped, “<i>Bakit pa kasi nag-asawa ito.</i>”</div><div><br/></div><div>The advice given by Sotto and Manalo has irked a certain Cha Roque, who claims to be a lesbian single mom. Roque made her displeasure over the advice known via an open letter to the hosts which is now circulating online.</div><div><br/></div><div></div><div><br/></div><div><img src='' alt='052915-titojose_main.jpg' width='400' height='290' align='left' border='0'>She wrote, “You made it appear like homosexuality is a disease and that he should keep it from his kids so as not to ‘infect’ them with it. I feel sad for the guy for trusting you with what he is going through only to be treated that way.”</div><div><br/></div><div>Roque even called the advice “immature” and “uneducated” especially since, “<i>Eat Bulaga</i> is an institution, you have millions of followers spanning the whole Philippines.</div><div><br/></div><div>“Needless to say, the personalities in your show are influential. You even have a Senator blatantly telling this guy to go back to the closet. Don't you have gay or lesbian colleagues or staff in your show? What if the participant was a lesbian mom? Would you ask her to go back to the closet as well? Would you say the same to Aiza Seguerra if he was in the situation?” she said.</div><div><br/></div><div>She added, “You are not in the position to tell this guy ‘<i>bumalik sa closet’ </i>or ‘<i>bakit kasi nag-asa-asawa</i>’ or threaten to hurt him (jokingly). You are promoting a culture of hate. You are telling the world that corrective beating up is okay to make a gay guy become manly. You are telling the world that the only key to be accepted is to hide who you truly are.”</div><div><br/></div><div>In the end, Roque took a swipe at the values being promoted by the show.</div><div><br/></div><div>“Judging from all the things you said here, I say I better make my child stay away from your show. I feel more secure with my kid hanging out with my gay and lesbian friends. I am more secure that she will get valuable life lessons from them and not learn rubbish. This incident just proved once again how homosexuality is far more clean than <i>Eat Bulaga</i> and its hosts' opinions will ever be,” she ended.</div><div><br/></div>

Tito Sotto blatantly told a viewer not to come out of the closet for his kids’ sake.

Tito Sotto and Jose Manalo slammed for ‘homophobic’ advice on national TV | PUSH.COM.PH