Amy Perez says in all her life she has never heard so much expletives uttered. "I thought I had heard it all," she once said when she appeared on a TV5 morning show. She also related how even before the cameras would roll, the participants would taunt each other, cussing and flashing dirty fingers.
Confrontation and physical violence isn't the be-all end-all of Face to Face. In the end, there is a panel of expert advisers to provide both legal and spiritual counsel. See? It's not all exploitation. The ever-ubiquitous Atty. Precida Acosta of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) approaches things from a legal perspective, although she's prone to mouth koan-like statements like "One of you is lying. One of you is telling the truth. Only God knows." A priest named Fr. Albert praises Face to Face for being a microcosm of society and that–as per England Dan and John Ford Coley–love is the answer and ends with words from Saint Paul: "Watch out… and pray!" A psychiatrist, Dr. Rose, purrs: "Lahat tayo nagkakamali… sa iba-ibang paraan lang." They all deliver their spiels while dramatic music swells in the background.
In the midst of it all is Amy Perez, who maintains her class, poise, and dignity in the face of flying shoes and chairs and lots of weeping women. I figured it is never easy to host something like this (and she's still hot, may I say). She's always fair to both sides and never condescends, and is always cool and quick to avert (with the bouncers' help, of course) a burst of bitch-slapping. But it is said that there are issues that Amy cannot help but be emotionally dragged in: especially when the issue has something to do with parents hurting their children.
In the end, Amy says it all goes back to the issue of poverty. Granted, the people here do not look like they live in Serendra or dine at Mamou's. The majority of the people in the studio I've spoken to are unemployed. "Most of us live just nearby," they chorus. Most of the teenagers in attendance are also not enrolled in school. Many of the people watching have been waiting outside the TV5 studios in Novaliches since morning. At least the audience is treated to free lunch at the cafeteria. Laiza Cayanes, 17, said that the menu for the day was fried chicken and some dish cooked with gata.
After all the off-cam counseling and advice, this is the kind of resolution reached: Joan will not let Mang Melvin off the hook. "Ayaw kong makipag-plastikan! Basta sumama ka na lang sa baranggay! Isoli mo na wallet at cellphone ko!" Joan says, "Parang awa mo na.. isoli mo na wallet ko. Papatayin na ako ng asawa ko!"
Often, it's the Face to Face panelists who look worn out by the drama.
At first, it's entertaining, no doubt. But in the end, it's a supremely depressing sight. You want them to patch things up. You want them to stop fighting. Only the truly cold-hearted would want to leave that place without the thought of them resolving their differences. But you want more than just the artificial shaking of hands and tearful embraces. You want more than just seeing them nodding to the gentle, reassuring rhythms of the counselor's words. You actually want them to have a better life. You want them to have better houses, better jobs, better husbands, better sons and daughters and aunts who will not steal their spouses and their cellphones.
But then again, what's there to watch?
This is a Crazy Planets is available in newsstands, bookstores and supermarkets nationwide for only P195. For more information, click here.
Art by Warren Espejo.
Image credits: All Face to Face photos by Shawn Yao.
