Jan. 10, 2008 (KBP: No cheating in Wilyonaryo)

No ‘Wilyonario’ scam–KBP
By Marinel Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines – There was no cheating.

This was the conclusion of investigators of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), who formally cleared ABS-CBN’s noontime game show “Wowowee” and its host Willie Revillame of charges of manipulation in the controversial “Wilyonaryo” game segment aired on Aug. 20, 2007.

“The incident was clearly a fault in the design of the game,” said a press statement issued by ABS-CBN, quoting the KBP.

In September, the KBP Standards Authority Committee launched an investigation of the “Wilyonaryo” segment, where Revillame was seen holding two numbers—a “0” and the jackpot number “2” representing the top prize of P2 million.

Controversial

“Wilyonaryo” is a game of chance in which a contestant stands to win big prizes, including a house and lot and P2 million.

A video of the Aug. 20 episode has been uploaded on YouTube.

In the controversial episode, the game participant who passed the elimination round and had already won P37,000 was made to choose from several wheels, one of which contained the P2-M pot.

Revillame bartered with the female contestant, offering P100,000 for the wheel she had picked. She accepted the offer.
When it was time to reveal where the jackpot money was, Revillame pulled out from the wheel two different cards instead of one, raising suspicions that he manipulated the results.

But after examining the equipment used in the game and conducting interviews with the production staff, the members of the probe committee concluded that no foul play was involved , according to KBP legal counsel Rudolph Jularbal.

“After reviewing the taped episode, they determined that Willie was genuinely surprised at the mistake … the KBP has recommended that ‘Wowowee’ discontinue the game or change its design,” the ABS-CBN statement quoted Jularbal.

The Kapamilya network has removed the “Wilyonaryo” segment from the program.

video link: http://blip.tv/file/590316

DTI: No evidence of ‘Wilyonaryo’ cheating so far; Willie might be asked to testify

(as of 1/16/2008 10:29 PM)

The Department of Trade and Industry committee investigating the “Wilyonaryo” incident on the August 20, 2007 episode of ABS-CBN’s game show Wowowee clarified earlier reports, saying it has not concluded its probe on whether cheating actually occurred.According to a report aired over ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol World, the DTI’s fact-finding committee said that it simply found “probable cause” to charge ABS-CBN for a possible violation of the Consumer Act.The DTI committee clarified that the filing of administrative charges against the network is for possible violation of the Consumer Act and NOT because any cheating has been established.

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