Antonio Tuviera, the media tycoon who built Eat Bulaga!

In my elementary years decades ago, in our little known school we call JASMS, our activities were quite unique. We went farming and soaked ourselves in our mud-filled swamp inside the campus; we went hiking on Mt. Makiling; went to factories, etc. And we went to watch Eat Bulaga! live, not once, not twice but several times.

I remember watching in the old Broadcast City studio and then later on at Broadway Centrum. It was certainly one of our more memorable field trips because we saw the real deal – of how assistants, script writers and the rest of the production crew were always busily moving here, there and everywhere to give the audience a good show. It was in stark contrast to how we see it on TV which seemed so smooth and seamless. Only by watching live did we learn that there was a whole machinery of hard-working men and women running about the studio each and every second as the show aired.

And then there’s big boss Antonio Tuviera, a towering, calm, fatherly figure who was always somewhere in the chaos, leading his team in running the variety show. He wasn’t scary; very low key in fact, but we were in awe of him.

Outside Eat Bulaga!, we also saw him during school events. One of his sons went to JASMS so we would hear stories about Mr. Tuviera’s hard work and rags-to-riches journey. He knew the production and entertainment industry like the back of his hand. He started from the ground up, holding those long snaking cables for the cameramen, doing film editing and scoring, etc., to earn a living.

That’s how I know that it is his business acumen, creative genius and knowledge in the entertainment industry that made Eat Bulaga! the country’s longest running noontime show.

The show premiered on July 30, 1979. It was Mr. Tuviera who pitched the idea to the triumvirate Tito, Vic and Joey, whose fame rose to meteoric heights because of the noontime show.

As the co-owner of Television and Production Exponents Inc., the company behind Eat Bulaga!, Mr. Tuviera handled the show’s day-to-day operations and steered the ship through changing tides in our country’s colorful history – from one crisis after another, through different competitors and through changing audience preferences – to continue giving Filipinos an entertaining show.

Time came when naturally, our generation outgrew the jokes and the occasional slapstick comedy. I also didn’t agree with everything the show dished out but one thing was clear – Eat Bulaga! was an entertaining show that made generations of Filipinos laugh; it also genuinely tried to help others the best way it could.

Much of its success in making people laugh is of course due to the fact that Eat Bulaga! is one happy family. The 200 or so-strong workforce had a well-loved boss in Mr. Tuviera.

“I think that it’s the only program in the television industry that has lasted for more than 40 years, so hindi ako, it’s the program...I only did what I had to do, and I was enjoying my job immensely and, on top of that, I was earning from it,” Mr. Tuviera said in an interview cited by the Philippine Entertainment Portal.

Takeover

Fast forward to 2023 and unfortunately, the family behind the happy lunch show is now gripped with tension.

The shock of their lives came on Feb. 28, 2023 when TAPE chairman emeritus and majority owner Romeo Jalosjos Sr., the ex-lawmaker convicted of raping an 11-year old girl in 1997, stood in front of the Eat Bulaga! workforce for the first time ever, and dropped the bomb:

“[E]ffective tomorrow, the president will be my son, Jonjon Romeo Jalosjos Jr. and it’s an understanding between Tony and me,” said Jalosjos.

Jalosjos, who was released from prison in 2009, said he and his children will take charge; they want to keep Eat Bulaga! alive. He said the show was having financial troubles but in reality, the company actually made P213 million in net profit in 2021, a pandemic year.

He said he would retire everyone, with the option to re-apply and take a pay cut.

Hearing this, employees had to pinch themselves in disbelief. All of a sudden, their well-loved boss for more than 40 years, Mr. Tuviera, the man who built Eat Bulaga!, would step down. All of a sudden, everyone would be retired. Their lives turned upside down.

If TAPE was a listed company, shareholders and employees would raise a howl over such drastic management change. If this were any other business empire, there would at least be enough consultations and a transition period.

Against this backdrop, there’s no telling what the future of Eat Bulaga! will be. How can a new team with not enough experience in running a noontime show suddenly take charge?

Jalosjos, of the prominent political clan of Zamboanga, talked about “reinventing” the noontime show and even offered to appear as co-host if some of the hosts decide to leave. Will the public accept this? Insiders suspect the changes have to do with his political interests.

His son Bullet Jalosjos, mayor of Dapitan, has said they just want to be more involved and create a “better” show.

What happens next is anybody’s guess.

In the entertainment industry, there’s a saying that the show must go on – no matter what.

Indeed, the show continues – at least for now – but for sure, with what’s happening, there’s less laughter in the Eat Bulaga! studios these days.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.