Veteran singer Gary Valenciano has decided to speak up on the controversy involving former singer Jimmy Bondoc and his statement regarding the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.
To recall, Bondoc posted on Facebook to express his happiness and excitement over the possibility of the Kapamilya network going out of business.
He said that he would like to see ABS-CBN close down because it has been a place where success is “based on politics and sexual favors”.
As a response, Valenciano said he was able to meet Bondoc personally through a television show.
He said that Bondoc must have had a personal experience with the network that made him say such things.
“Jimmy Bondoc is actually somebody that I worked with in ABS-CBN for a show called Twist and Shout. Martin Nievera and myself were the ones who was taking it up. I don’t know exactly why Jimmy would come out so boldly and to say such things, but something must have happened, something must have occurred for him to become that way because that doesn’t seem like the Jimmy I once knew,” he said.
“So nakakabigla ano? I knew it was going to create a lot of waves, whether it’s people in the industry, or even people outside of the industry, or maybe even people who are far away like OFWs who stay in contact with their families because of what ABS-CBN has been able to give them,” he added.
Valenciano also said that he would like to ask and talk to Bondoc about his statements.
“I’ll have to maybe someday, if I sit down with Jimmy, I can maybe ask him sincerely, ‘Bro what drove you to say these things?’ and if he does have actual stories then I would follow the advice of Angel who said, you know, just make a proper complaint and take it through the proper courses because there are more than just, it’s more than one station involved here, it’s thousands of people in that station that should the station disappear, a lot of people’s lives will not just be put on hold but a lot of lives will be affected in ways that may be very debilitating and with possibly no way of recovering from that,” he said.
Valenciano went on to say that he is not disappointed with what Bondoc said and that he believes that he has a reason why he said those things.
“There are reasons for everything, you know. Why people say things and for me a person who speaks that way can only be driven so far, maybe umabot na dun sa threshold niya at lumagpas dun sa threshold niya kaya nilabas niya yun. I have to be someone who needs to see both sides of the story before I can make a judgment call on it,” he said.
Valenciano ended his statement by saying he still considers Bondoc as his friend.
“I’m saddened by what was said but I still know he’s a friend. I’ve worked with him and I had fun working with him,” he said.
