Joey, The Crab

A joey is a young kangaroo. But the joey that I'm talking about here is nothing young and cute, but an ageing self proclaimed carnivorous lion. King of the jungle? Nothing can be more fitting, for who else should reign a kingdom where the most savaged, merciless, breed less roam. No one is more deserving.

With all due respects to Mr. Joey de Leon, I recognize that fact that he is already a pillar in the entertainment industry, having starred in countless forgettable parodic comedies back in the 80's and hosting the country's longest running variety program which undeniably has lost its originality. He has already made a name for himself, constantly reinventing as one talented and brilliant artist. But sad to day, his latest reinvention was shameless and unbecoming. Indeed proving that the case of Benjamin Button do really exist! Only this time, it’s the character that ages backgrounds.

You might be wondering why I hate Joey de Leon this much. Nope. I don’t actually hate him, I abhor him. I can withstand his cleverness when explaining something or when he's defending himself against his rivals, but to put down someone who has not done him any wrong, think that’s totally disappointing, something nobody would be expecting to hear from someone of his stature.

What am I talking about here? Well, it's his latest column in Philippine Star where he hit back on those people who trying to get their share of spotlight from the death of the King of Pop. I am now in Dubai and I am the least likely to care about him and his traditional antics, but when he's hitting on an unsuspecting fellow who's just starting to make a name for herself in the international music scene, my gloves and shields are ready to defend the innocent from the attacks of the crabs.

Here's an excerpt of that shameless and tasteless poem-article he published which undoubtedly was referring to ____________________________________ CHARICE PEMPENGCO:

Meron pa daw biglang naging idol s’ya,

Mabubuking mo dahil iba mga kanta,

Laging birit Beyoncé, Celine at Mariah,

Nang bumigay si MJ, umiba ang gaga.

Tigilan na nuno ng kasinungalingan,

Kesyo kinukuha raw para sa one-on-one

Nila ni Michael Jackson gagawin sa London,

Beat it! That is Bad, puro kayo ka-cheap-an.

Hoy, ano ba naman, eh humigit kumulang

Ang mga presyo ng tickets ay fifty thousand,

Makita lang si Michael ‘yan ang babayaran

At hindi bisitang galing kung saan-saan

Man, is this how you belittle a kid with an enormous talent, please give this child a break! Has your cleverness to write interesting articles gone down to drain that even now you're trying to second the bitterness of Mr. Freddie Aguilar? If Charice and Arnel were "monkeys", you are the lice in their hairs! Where is your wisdom? Is this the culmination of all your years building your name which you think is synonymous to pride, respect and might? If so, then it's sad. Mr. Joey de Leon, Charice is no Willie Revillame nor a tabloid writer that you wished to kill. She's a young Filipina trying to represent the dreams of so many of us, dreams that you could wish you've been given too. So Please spare her. Spare her of your jealousy.

Admittedly, there might really be some people riding on the issue of MJ's death, but Charice is different. When she claimed that she's supposed to perform a showdown of Billie Jean with the late MJ, she could be telling something so possible. After all, Charice 's mentor, David Foster was the co-producer of MJ's single "Heal the World". And if you could only searched Youtube to see her perform that song with all her mimicry, you could say that this little girl really has talent that even MJ couldn’t resist. It's just so sad that a lot of people around the world are praising and admiring her, but in our country, people just feel the opposite. Talking about people using MJ for their own benefit, what would you call his article any way. Isn’t that cheaper and self serving?

I don t want to end sounding like I am so obsessed with Charice. I am not, I am just a fan, a proud fan. So for you Mr. Joey de Leon, grow up in the way we should all do, forward. You had your time. Now it’s for others to shine. Be happy for other people successes, it's also ours. Be receptive of new talents. We are all Filipino, not crabs.