That Willie was adored by Davaoeños who watch him daily on TV in the widely-followed noontime show, Wowowee is an understatement. His mere presence on the streets of Davao during the two-hour motorcade thrilled thousands of fans no end. People touched, kissed, hugged and followed him everywhere he went.
The Wowowee motorcade traversed the main thoroughfares of Davao City and an unbelievable crowd – from infants to senior citizens – swelled in every road. People stood on top of vehicles and roofs, screamed, clapped, craned their necks and ran after Willie’s pick-up. Due to the large throng which packed the streets, traffic was at a standstill for more than an hour.
At the corner of Quezon Boulevard and Magsaysay Avenue, a disabled lady in a wheelchair being pushed by her daughter came to witness the motorcade. When she caught Willie’s attention, the comedian-TV host dauntlessly jumped out of his pick-up truck and gave the old lady a Wowowee shirt and P1,000.
"If Willie runs for mayor (in Davao), he will win hands down," noted a tabloid entertainment editor in the media entourage.
The live airing of ABS-CBN’s game show, Wowowee, last weekend at Davao’s PTA Grounds also drew a mammoth crowd that can be only seen perhaps during Davao’s annual Kadayawan fiesta. The five-hectare venue was packed with people who endured the sweltering heat just to watch the live show. Some even camped out in the grounds the night before the show, just to secure a strategic location.
ABS-CBN was ready with ambulance vehicles, a first-aid team with stretchers and medicines. A dozen police cars and nearly a hundred officers were deployed to secure the area.
"The Davao crowd was double than the one which went to Iloilo late last month," noted Ron Valdueza, ABS-CBN’s vice president for Regional Network Group (RNG). Wowowee also did a live airing from Iloilo’s La Paz Plaza Football Field last May 28.
While previous summer caravans in Northern Luzon, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo saw a star-studded entourage, Willie single-handedly took Davao by storm, accompanied by his three female co-hosts – Iya Villania, Kat Alano and Janel Jamer. He intensified the motorcade with his mere presence as he, too, was overwhelmed with the warm reception the Davaoeños showed him.
A day before the Davao motorcade, there were more than 30,000 who lined up at Almendras Gym to enlist for the Pera o Bayong segment of the show, where a contestant gets the chance to win a house and lot or a P1-M prize kitty. People came all the way from General Santos City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Cagayan de Oro.
Right after the motorcade, the kapamilya talents also invaded the NCCC mall, where thousands waited for the Wowowee entourage. Mall insiders noted they have never seen such a huge crowd that converged in the venue.
Willie was dead-tired after the day-long activities, so he almost did not make it to the press conference that same evening at Garden Oases in Davao. However, not wanting to disappoint the local press and fans who also waited for him, Willie showed up and gamely answered all questions directed at him, thus proving to be a tireless one-man show.
"Akala ko po ‘yung mga sumalubong sa amin sa Iloilo talagang madami na," Willie disclosed. "Pero mas madami pa ‘yung nakita ko dito sa Davao. Salamat po sa pagmamahal at suporta na ibinibigay niyo sa amin."
Bringing Wowowee to Davao is part of ABS-CBN’s overall campaign to bring its programs and talents closer to its provincial audiences. The grand road trip also allows ABS-CBN stars to say hello to fans all over the country.
The Davao caravan reinforced ABS-CBN’s dominance in the province, as well as the network’s affinity with local residents. Davao is clearly ABS-CBN country, where the network has enjoyed a stronghold of the ratings since 1988. Ratings provided by Nielsen Media Research in the first quarter of 2005 showed that ABS-CBN Davao continues to lord it over all other networks, with a stunning 21.7 percent rating over its competitor with only 6.7 percent.
Nineteen ABS-CBN shows make it to the Top 20 primetime entertainment programs, led by the kiddie drama Mga Anghel na Walang Langit. Meanwhile, TV Patrol World dominates the Top 20 news programs with 32.1 percent rating and 61.5 audience share.
Even ABS-CBN’s AM radio, DXAB 1296 Davao, leads in the comparative performances of AM radio stations all over the province, according to the RRC Personal Radio Listening Survey in Davao City.
The Davao summer caravan had the full support of the ABS-CBN Regional Network Group (RNG), headed by Ron Valdueza, with AVP for Mindanao George Padolina, Davao station manager Kim Hife and marketing head Tina Junsay.
Wowowee kicked off ABS-CBN’s summer caravan in early April when the program did a successful remote airing in Bicol. The equally-successful Northern Luzon leg saw Nginiig, Entertainment Konek, Star Dance, Wazzup and Showbiz No. 1 in Tarlac, Dagupan and Baguio City. Then came the star-studded Daghang Salamat Cebu, which created a stir among Cebuanos. ABS-CBN artists also displayed star-power in Bacolod and Iloilo. Last month, Kris Aquino’s Game K N B? also did a week-long episode in Davao.