Pauleen Luna-Sotto speaks up on 'Eat Bulaga' losing 'It’s Showtime' as free TV competitor

MANILA, Philippines — Even long-time "Eat Bulaga" host Pauleen Luna-Sotto was sad when their rival noontime show "It's Showtime" went off-air on free TV when ABS-CBN's franchise expired last May and when Congress declined to renew its franchise.

"Honestly, for me and my husband, competition is okay," Pauleen told Philstar.com in an exclusive phone interview when asked about what she feels now that "Eat Bulaga" and "It's Showtime" are no longer competing in the free TV ratings game.

"And ang competition naman sa amin, hindi naman personalan eh. It makes the show better if you’re always on your toes, ‘di ba? You always try to better yourself."

Pauleen, however, clarified that losing a major competitor did not mean that they in "Eat Bulaga" have to rest on their laurels.

"N’ung nawalan s’ya ng ka-kompetensya, ‘di ko sinasabing nagrelax na ‘yung ‘Eat Bulaga.’ Of course, we’re still doing the best we can especially in a given situation like right now. But ‘yun nga, my husband (Vic Sotto) and I feel that competition is very important."

Pauleen hosts the new TV5 morning show “Chika, BESH! Basta Everyday Super Happy” with former Kapamilya star Pokwang and Star Magic artist Ria Atayde.

The show, which airs every 10 a.m. on TV5 with a next day replay in Colours Channel (Cignal TV ch 60) at 11 a.m., has on its lineup a lot of ABS-CBN stars that lost work when the network failed to renew its franchise.

Apart from Pauleen's co-hosts Pokwang and Ria, among the Kapamilya stars to be seen on "Chika, BESH!" were pilot episode guest Sofia Andres, as well as upcoming guests JC de Vera, Ruffa Gutierrez, Richard Yap and celebrity couple Kim Molina and Jerald Napoles.

"Marami pong nawalan ng trabaho, hindi lang artista, marami talaga. Even ‘Eat Bulaga’ was off-air for a while. Even my friends, non-showbiz friends… In general na lang po. Filipinos are really very resilient. Gagawa nang gagawa ng paraan," said Pauleen, who shared that even she had to make milk tea from home and deliver her products around their village when her milk tea business was shut down. 

"For Filipinos everywhere, ‘wag na lang natin tanggalin ‘yung dasal. Magdasal tayo araw-araw. ‘Wag tayo agad-agad mawawalan ng pag-asa. Ako, I really believe that one day, it will all come back to normal. Hopefully, that day would be soon."

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