Meet TAPE owner Romeo Jalosjos: The power that can shake up Philippine TV (2024)

Romeo Jalosjos is in the headlines again.

But this time, the headlines are not about politics or the case that sent him to jail for 11 years, but about the longest-running noontime show Eat Bulaga!.

Who is Romeo Jalosjos?

What is his connection to Eat Bulaga!?

TV VENTURES

The politician is the owner of Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE Inc.), which is widely known in showbiz as the noontime show's producer.

He co-founded it with Tony Tuviera, along with the show's main hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon.

Eat Bulaga! had a rough start due to low ratings and lack of advertising revenue.

In the first month, it only got a rating of 5.2% against the juggernaut Student Canteen’s 57.6%.

And it took a while before it started earning, so its hosts were not paid and the staff would get by through cash advances.

The coffee table book Eat Bulaga: Ang Unang Tatlong Dekada revealed more details.

It mentioned, “The one time there was enough cash to pay the hosts half their monthly salary, a production coordinator even absent-mindedly left the money in a cab."

Malou Choa-fa*gar, who served as the chief operating officer of TAPE Inc. until her retirement on January 1, 2021, said the "struggling years" went on for about "10 years.”

In her 2019 interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), she recalled, "Even when it started to rate, the show had a hard time wooing advertisers, primarily because it was a blocktimer sa RPN 9 and not a station-produced program.

“Kahit na natalo na namin ang Student Canteen, ang ratings—one time lang naman kasi monthly lang ang ratings noon, e. Kahit na natalo na namin, it’s still hard.

“Siyempre kung network, siyempre, madaling ibenta. Kaya lang kasi kami, blocktimer. We’re the only blocktimer that’s existing [at the time]. Wala nang iba. Ayun.

“So, we we’re struggling, hindi kami sumusuweldo.”

As the financier, Jalosjos then gave everyone an ultimatum of three months—if the ratings did not improve, Eat Bulaga! would be taken off the air.

READ: Eat Bulaga!'s humble beginnings: "We were struggling, di kami sumusuweldo."

Back then, with the management team led by Tuviera, he would hold "monthly meetings."

However, with the production team, his physical presence was "minimal," according to two pioneering production team members.

One of them told PEP.ph via a phone call, "Seldom saw him. Sometimes sa mga staff events, he would attend, but the people running the show were Mr. T and Ms. Malou."

But Jalosjos then had the last say.

A former employee told PEP.ph via Facebook Messenger that, "Tuviera would update him of plans and Jalosjos would approve or disapprove."

This, however, would be refuted by others, who said that Jalosjos did not call the shots for production in Eat Bulaga!.

Ultimately, the show triumphed over its struggles, and is now the longest-running noontime show that many love.

FROM SALES TO PRODUCTION

Jalosjos's entry to television was via sales.

He first worked with ABC-5 then moved to ABS-CBN.

Butch Francisco detailed his foray into production in his column for PikaPika.ph:

"When martial law shut down ABS-CBN in 1972, Jalosjos and other partners put up Philippine Production Center, Inc.—or PPCI.

"With the blessings of the Lopez family, PPCI brought old ABS-CBN shows, like Pugo’s Si Tatang Kasi and Dolphy’s Buhay Artista, to Channel 7, which was allowed to reopen three months after the declaration of martial law.

"After a few years, Jalosjos went solo and established Production Specialists. Tuviera became his assistant."

The company produced beauty pageants, including Binibining Pilipinas, and the games under Philippine Basketball Association, which became the company's cash cow.

In the late 70s, he decided to venture into TV production, and, in the 80s, he developed a C-shaped white-sand beach property in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte called “Dakak” or “dakong kakahoyan."

Eventually, he would have less intervention in running Eat Bulaga! because aside from being a businessman, he also became a politician.

Meanwhile, he was formerly the common law husband of the late Nida Blanca. They planned to marry in Hong Kong, but it did not push through.

He married singer Lourna Pal, the mother of his two children Lana and Bullet.

His eldest is Romeo "Jon-jon" Masupil Jalosjos Jr., is also a politician, and he has another daughter named Soraya.

RAPE CONVICTION

In 1996, a case shocked the nation, and was painstakingly recorded in the online records of Jalosjos’s conviction.

Here's the gist: the former Zamboanga del Norte Representative raped an 11-year-old girl repeatedly in his condo in Makati.

The 11-year-old girl, who was pushed into prostitution by her uncle, was in Jalosjos’s condo supposedly to be an actress.

Jalosjos, who was a big-time TV producer, promised to make her a star.

Thus, the young girl spent nights in his bed, where he repeatedly undressed her and sexually abused her.

Jalosjos firmly denied the accusations in court. He testified that he was not in his condo when the sexual abuse happened, and that it was someone else, his brother, who had met the girl.

But the courts and the public were unconvinced.

Jalosjos was arrested and jailed at the beginning of 1997. He was found guilty of two counts of statutory rape and six counts of lasciviousness by the Makati Regional Trial Court at the end of the same year.

He was penalized with reclusion perpetua, or a life sentence, for each count of statutory rape, then transferred to the New Bilibid Prison in 1998.

Despite his conviction, Jalosjos continued to run for office and was re-elected to the Congress in the 1998 and 2001 elections.

Jalosjos also appealed his case to the Supreme Court, which affirmed his conviction in 2001 and 2002.

The 2002 conviction finally barred him from running in any government position and effectively ended his political career.

JALOSJOS IS FREE

In 2007, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted Jalosjos’s two life sentences to 16 years.

Two years later, the Department of Justice commuted his sentence further due to good behavior. Jalosjos walked out of prison in March 2009, after serving only 11 years.

In an interview with Newsline in 2021, Jalosjos said he was “proud to be jailed.”

“History is built with stories about great men who became great because he was jailed first. Majority of the great men in history was imprisoned one way or the other, even here in the Philippines. Rizal was imprisoned, [former President Ferdinand] Marcos was imprisoned, Ninoy was imprisoned, [African President Nelson] Mandela,” he said.

Jalosjos also did not have a hard time in prison. In 2011, two years after he walked out of Bilibid, news of special treatment hit the headlines.

While he was in jail, the Bureau of Corrections allowed the convicted rapist to build several structures for his enjoyment, such as a tennis court, a playground, a bakery and his own kubol (cottage). A photo also surfaced showing Jalosjos playing in an exclusive basketball court, which he also built.

Jalosjos defended the VIP treatment in an interview in the same year. He insisted that the dignity of VIP prisoners like himself should be respected, and having a kubol of their own upholds that.

"There's nothing wrong with having a kubol. You have to respect the dignity of a prisoner, he is a human being and if he can afford it, why not?" he told reporters.

In the same interview, he mentioned he was against the so-called “democratization of sufferings” for all prisoners in the Bilibid, because the treatment cannot be the same due to different social status.

"As any place on earth and in heaven, I suppose, they are not all the same. There are angels and there are higher than angels.

"Now in Bilibid, there are people who can afford, there are people who cannot afford. Some have better income than the others because they are being sent allowances...

"Now I don't know why we should really insist on democratization of sufferings so that if one suffers, you must all be suffering.”

After leaving prison, Jalosjos concentrated on his businesses, including Dakak, which is now a multi-billion five-star resort.

The senior Jalosjos in now 82 years old.

At his advanced age, is he still capable of the sort of power move that will shake up one of the institutions of Philippine TV?

Three of his children are now holding top positions in TAPE Inc.

Soraya's LinkedIn account indicates that she is the vice president for administration.

Jon-Jon is the chief executive officer, while Bullet is in charge of finance.

About 44 years since the show's inception, rumors surfaced that Jalosjos was trying to "rebrand" the show.

According to the grapevine, he and his family want to kick out Tito, Vic, and Joey from the show, and replace them with Willie Revillame.

But this rumor has been called fake news by Jalosjos’s son, Dapitan City Mayor Bullet Jalosjos.

Willie himself was clueless.

Will there be a relaunching on April 17, 2023?

Let's wait and see.