o most people, the reason for the unexpected emotional outburst of the country's ace comedian (and our very own columnist) Joey de Leon on GMA-7's "Startalk" last Saturday, was due to the intrigues that have attempted to malign his name and tarnish his reputation, in the wake of the recent "Wowowee" tragedy of rival network ABS-CBN.

But we were on the phone with Joey last Monday afternoon and he told us that is not true at all. He said, "kung iniisip ng mga tao na kaya ako umiyak ay dahil naapektuhan ako ng mga tsismis sa text na yan, hindi po. I broke down because I had been prevailed upon not to air my defense. Hindi ko pala talaga kaya yung napipipilan."

The comedian said he was keeping all the emotions bottled up inside him since the first day the text message circulated. But like vile that has been poisoning him, Joey said it hurt him to somehow feel helpless about the situation. "May mga sumasakit sa katawan ko. Ang nature ko kasi talaga, is to come out kapag may gusto akong sabihin. And they have always let me. In the past, that has always been the case. But this time it was so different. Anyway, alam ko naman at naiintindihan that they ("Eat Bulaga" management) are also after my welfare. They were also probably trying to protect me," he explained.

Joey said he never planned to break down when he agreed to clarify his side of the story in his other show, "Startalk." "Kasi ang reason ko talaga was I would do it for my daughter Jocas who was so affected by the intrigues. She's in the States and she called to ask me, ‘why aren't you defending yourself Dad?' That was the reason why I decided to speak. Pero hindi ko naman plano na umiyak. Maski nga ako, nagulat sa nangyari. Kasi noong nagsasalita na ako, ibang-iba na ang pakiramdam ko. Para bang bigla ko na lang isinuka lahat ng nasa loob ko. Lahat ng sama ng loob, ng negative feelings, nailabas," he continued.

But if there's something good that came out of it, Joey said he felt so much better after. "Parang nabunot yung napakalaking tinik na nakabara sa lalamunan ko all those days," he said.

"I have also realized how many friends I have in the business. They have sent me text messages showing their support for me and I'm happy. Kaya lang hindi ako marunong mag-text kaya hindi ko nasagot silang lahat," he said.

Joey has not reported back to the "Eat Bulaga" studios but he said, "I'll come back when I'm feeling so much better. I'm just home resting," he said.

For the record, Joey denied all the malicious text messages that was circulated against him. "Hindi ko style yon. Alam mo naman ako, writer ako e. Sigurado kapag may sinabi ako, may punchline yun. Hindi ako bibitaw ng walang punchline. Siguro the closest that I would say is, ‘dito na kayo sa amin. live kami.' Mga ganun siguro. But in truth, wala talaga akong sinabi kaya malakas ang loob ko maghamon ng kahit sino para maglabas ng ebidensya. I even said hindi na ako lalabas sa TV kung may maipapakita silang pruweba. Ganoon ako kaseryoso."

On the issue that he gestured "kill" with his finger, Joey said, "I didn't do that. But if you notice, sila sa ‘Wowowee' ang gumagawa noon araw-araw. Nakita mo na ba ang dance step nila? Di ba both hands nilalagay nila sa leeg?"

With that, we know for sure that Joey de Leon was feeling better.

Anyway, Joey promised us he will continue writing for Bulletin very soon. So, to all those who have been awaiting for his next column, rest assured that Joey will be with us again very soon.

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