MANILA, Philippines — Did television host Willie Revillame “hijack” Palace’s briefing with the media last week when he unexpectedly joined the discussion?
That is not the case, said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday.
Roque made the clarification following a Rappler report titled: “Willie Revillame hijacks Roque press briefing to promote charity, GMA7 show”, which states that the press briefing “unexpectedly took on talk show vibes after television host Willie Revillame seemed to barged into it to talk about his charity efforts and even plug his GMA7 show.”
“Walang ganung nangyari. Pinatapos natin ang press briefing bago natin pinasalamatan at binigyan ng pagkakataon si Kuya Wil na magsalita,” Roque said in an online press briefing.
According to Roque, they just wanted to thank Revillame for allowing them to use his studio while the New Executive Building inside the Malacañang complex, where the usual press briefings are being held, is on lockdown.
“Bilang pasasalamat lang ‘yung ginawa natin na hinayaan natin siyang magpakita sa huling parte ng briefing because matulungin naman si Willie,” Roque said.
“Walang pinagkaiba ang pagtulong nya sa panahon ng pandemya [at] noong panahon ng Yolanda. Walang pulitika doon at walang hijacking,” he added.
On August 7, Revillame joined the briefing and announced that he is donating P5 million to jeepney drivers who lost their livelihood due to lockdown and P100,000 each to the families of four Filipinos who were killed in the powerful explosions in Beirut, Lebanon.
In the same briefing, Revillame was also able to promote a segment in his show on GMA-7.