By ISA LORENZO
www.pcij.org

As for "Wowowee" itself, the show doesn’t seem to have changed much almost two years after the Ultra stampede. During a recent show that was jam-packed with games, the prizes ranged from P30,000 from one sponsor to a jackpot of P1 million for "Pera o Bayong" (since last September, the segment has not been offering P2 million because people were apparently no longer thrilled once they spotted a "1").

School beauty queens had been the pre-selected contestants for that show and they competed with one another in naming the title and composer of songs. Each correct answer was worth P5,000. They then faced off with three other people chosen from the audience. (Sample question: 1 - 0 equals?) By the end of the segment, one beauty queen had won P65,000. She then moved on to the "Pasalog" portion, where two skimpily clad girls shook balls with compartments that contain dice. If the side of a die with the label of a sponsor faces up when the compartment is opened, the contestant will win cash prizes.

The jackpot that day was P440,000. But luck was against Ms. Beauty Queen and she went home with only P65,000.

The show’s highlight, however, was obviously "Pera O Bayong," which had the names of its 50 contestants announced the day before. The contestants took turns lining up behind the signs "Oo (Yes)" and "Hindi (No)" in response to questions like "Red sauce ba ang carbonara (Is carbonara a red sauce)?" until only one was left. This contestant then made an excruciating choice: "Pera o bayong (money or straw bag)?" Three bayongs contained prizes like P1 million, a car, and a house and lot. The rest contained cheap items like a pencil.

At rival "Eat Bulaga," a carnival of parlor games was also going on. To pick who got to spin the roulette in "Taktak Mo o Tatakbo," contestants were made to line up behind two letters and then pick cards with questions regarding a person, song, or thing. The answers all start with the letter they had lined up behind. Somehow, the contestants dwindled to just one, and the spinning of the roulette – and feverish dancing to the "Taktak" song – began. The smallest amount on the wheel is P10,000, and there are also special jackpot prizes. Sometimes, the "manager," will allow the player another spin at a special wheel in exchange for money. A lucky contestant could go home with thousands of pesos.

Another regular "Eat Bulaga" game is "On the Spot Jackpot," in which contestants are pre-selected from a certain group of people – say, feng shui masters or television dubbers. They each stand on a numbered spot on a raised grid, and if the cartoon girl Twinky draws their number, they take their place in front of celebrities holding drums. Each drum has a slip of paper and cash worth P5,000 to P25,000. The lucky winner of the P25,000 then goes on to choose from among three vaults, which contain fake gold bars with slips of paper inside ranging from P50,000 to P200,000. The contestant is offered increasing amounts of cash as the paper is slowly slid out of the bar he or she chose.

A 38-year-old call center agent who once participated in one of "Eat Bulaga’s" games won some P250,000 (reduced to P200,000 after taxes) by answering a short list of trivia questions. She describes the experience as "fun." But, she says, "mas masaya ‘nung nakuha ko na ‘yung tseke (it was even more fun when I got the check)."

EVEN OUT-AND-OUT game shows that cater to a more upscale audience do not offer much beyond the lure of winning cash. In the now defunct "Break The Bank" in the youth-oriented Studio 23, for instance, contestants were first asked a question that had a giveaway answer before they could pick a briefcase that could contain their prize. They were made to choose between the contents of the briefcase or the cash amount offered by the banker. The catch was while the banker’s offer was a sure thing, the briefcase could contain anywhere from P1 to P100,000.

Some TV producers are aware that game shows can foster unrealistic hopes. "Game shows are like prayers, they keep you hoping and hoping, they deflect us from looking into the real issue of unemployment," says one producer who declines to be named.

Tape Inc.’s Ferre also says that TV producers have a moral responsibility to discourage contestants from believing that winning on a game show is the answer to poverty. She says that this is why "Eat Bulaga’s hosts always ask contestants what their occupation is. "What we want to convey is, you have work, and you work hard," she says. "We hope (the money you win) helps. If you drive a jeepney, we hope that you don’t stop working but rather, that you’re able to own your own jeep."

Ferre says that "Eat Bulaga’s" primary purpose is not to give away money, but to entertain its viewers. "Eighty-seven-point-nine plus Filipinos are entertained, only one wins," she says. "The winner only becomes a medium for ordinary people to empathize."Marilou Almaden, ABS-CBN’s business unit head in charge of game shows, says that for some viewers, watching such programs is more about the thrill of trying to trump the contestant, rather the prizes.

Psychologist Bautista, for her part, says that for the poor, these shows can also serve as coping mechanisms. She notes, "For a moment you forget about the difficulties of life, for a moment you have hope. And then of course the entertainment that goes with it is another way by which you forget. So you’re able to move on to the next day, because you’ve had a gulp of fun and excitement."

Almaden says that despite all the criticisms hurled their way, she is proud to be producing game shows. "A lot of people say that we’re giving false hopes to people," she says. "But I want to see it the other way, that there are people whom we actually help, in the small way that we can."

She says that she cries whenever she sees the joy etched on winners’ faces. "In my group’s little way," says Almaden, "wow, we can actually make dreams come true."