Kris Aquino to Willie Revillame: Apology accepted

The Aquino family has forgiven television host Willie Revillame for objecting on air to the insertion of a video of former President Corazon Aquino’s cortege on his noontime show, “Wowowee." “I can speak on behalf of myself, my sisters and my brother… we accept his apology," said Kris Aquino-Yap, Mrs. Aquino’s youngest child, on entertainment program SNN (Showbiz News Ngayon) Monday night. Revillame received flak mostly from the online community last week over his remark on the insertion of the video of Mrs. Aquino’s transfer from the La Salle Greenhills to the Manila Cathedral. He has since apologized for his action. Revillame had earlier explained that he objected to the insertion of the video because he thought it would not blend well with the cheerful atmosphere of his show. “Ang feeling ko hindi magandang ipinapakita ‘yon habang kami’y nagsasaya (I felt it was not right to show the cortege while we in the show were having fun)," he said. During Monday night’s interview by Boy Abunda on SNN, Kris, a co-host of the show, said she only learned of the incident last Friday when she and her siblings saw on YouTube the footage of Revillame's reaction to the insertion of the cortege video. She said they did not think much about it that time because they were busy packing their mother’s belongings in her home in Times Street, Quezon City. “So Friday namin pinanuod sabay-sabay sa YouTube (We watched the video last Friday in YouTube) and then we didn’t really get to talk about it much kasi pumunta kami sa Times at nag-ayos kami ng gamit ni mom (because we went to Times Street to pack mom’s belongings)," Kris said. Kris said later that day, Revillame phoned her and asked if he could speak with her siblings. She said she gave the phone to her sister Pinky, to whom Revillame apologized. “Sorry siya ng sorry kay Pinky (He was very apologetic to Pinky), and Pinky said as far as I’m concerned it is finished, let’s move on. We accept your apology," Kris said. She said the family believes that it was not Revillame’s intention to disrespect their mother. “Ang masama ‘yung pamamaraan nung pagsabi n’un. Pero Willie na iintindihan ka namin (It was the way he said it that offended a lot of people. But Willie, we understand you)," she said. Kris also said they are leaving it to the authorities if they would sanction Revillame over his actions. “We are not (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board), we are not ABS-CBN (Revillame’s network), and we are not (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas)… Wala po sa kamay namin ang mangyayari in in the future (what awaits him is not in our hands)," she said. The MTRCB, along with the National Press Club (NPC) and the Alyansa ng Filipinong Mamahayag (Afima), said Willie Revillame should be sanctioned for violating the broadcast code of ethics. - GMANews.TV