Maine Mendoza Takes a Stand Against Joey De Leon Calling Depression "Gawa-Gawa Lang"

(SPOT.ph) Another day, another Joey De Leon controversy. On Thursday, October 5, the Eat Bulaga comedian and host drew flak for his remarks on depression. During the show's "Sugod Bahay" segment, the hosts were speaking to an elderly winner who said she was diagnosed with depression.

De Leon immediately reacted, saying, "'Yong depression, gawa-gawa lang ng mga tao 'yan," to which co-host Jose Manalo agreed to, adding, "Oo, dine-depress niyo lang ang sarili ninyo, tapos nagkakaroon na ng sakit." Fellow EB host Allan K also chimed in, saying, “Parang bine-baby mo, 'no, ang sakit mo.”

— DryedMangoez (@dryedmangoez) October 5, 2017

Maine Mendoza, who was seated with the "Sugod Bahay" winner, tried to call out their statements. "Hindi biro 'yon 'a, 'yong depression," she said. "Hindi siya joke. Kasi maraming nakakaranas noon, lalo na sa mga kabataan. Kaya dapat, kung mayroong nakakaranas ng ganoon, bigyan natin ng suporta." Her love-team partner, Alden Richards, also verbally agreed with her, to which De Leon still countered, saying, “Hindi, huwag niyo suportahan, gawa-gawa lang niya 'yon.”

The full clip was posted on Twitter (above), and also includes De Leon making more harmful statements on the mental illness, such as, "Nagpapasosyal lang." The Internet was clearly unhappy and the exchange led to De Leon trending on Twitter:

— AK (@akitabaquero) October 5, 2017

— Berna Ramos (@theiMb3rNa) October 5, 2017

— seven sundays oct 11 (@soberocker) October 5, 2017

So far, neither Mendoza nor De Leon have made any formal statements on the issue.

If you think you may have depression or know someone with depression, you can contact the Department of Health's 24-hour suicide prevention hotline, Hopeline, (02) 804-4637; 0917-5584673; and 2919 for Globe and TM subscribers.