Joey de Leon draws flak for depression remark; Maine Mendoza earns praise for rebuttal

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">MANILA, Philippines – Actor and TV host Joey de Leon drew the ire of many after it made offensive remarks about depression as a mental illness. He called it “gawa-gawa lang” or made up and that there is a big difference between how the rich and poor experience it.<br /><br />De Leon’s remarks went viral and he even trended # 1 on Twitter Philippines on Thursday night. People are calling it callous and ignorant. Several shared their experiences on how depression destroyed their or their loved ones lives. On the other hand, many applauded the phenomenal star Maine Mendoza for taking a stand and clarifying that depression is “no joke.”<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a rel='nofollow' href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxO4DaJ0iTRM0TWwoOVkREG8wSSz5dck8CZ5zcFiJQ0gqDCz3bdKA-nh1v14ewGpEecpgX8OCxGcX8cOtCtJtvx2lJpNmCGNMeOCmncIfpPQRCDGIaaXUQ_d8eaqOFQuTfyBKMRSjCtti/s1600/joey-de-leon-maine-mendoza.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=" Joey de Leon draws flak for depression remark; Maine Mendoza earns praise for rebuttal" border="0" class="img" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="549" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxO4DaJ0iTRM0TWwoOVkREG8wSSz5dck8CZ5zcFiJQ0gqDCz3bdKA-nh1v14ewGpEecpgX8OCxGcX8cOtCtJtvx2lJpNmCGNMeOCmncIfpPQRCDGIaaXUQ_d8eaqOFQuTfyBKMRSjCtti/s1600/joey-de-leon-maine-mendoza.JPG" title=" Joey de Leon draws flak for depression remark; Maine Mendoza earns praise for rebuttal" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joey de Leon (left) slammed for offensive remarks about depression, calling it “gawa-gawa lang.” Screengrab from Twitter video/ DryedMangoez‏.</td></tr></tbody></table>Eat Bulaga has always been known for its adlibs and “on the spot” kind of humor. But, everyone was pretty shocked at a joke called out by one if its hosts, Joey de Leon. In Eat Bulaga’s segment, “Juan for all, all for Juan’, the hosts Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza had discovered that the contestant they were interviewing is suffering from depression.<br /><div id="unruly-unit"></div><br />Maine commented,<i> “Hindi biro ‘yun ah, ‘yung depression.”</i> [Depression is not a joke]<br />She added, <i>“Hindi siya joke kasi maraming nakakaranas ng ganon, lalo na sa mga kabataan. Kaya dapat kapag may nakakaranas ng ganon, bigyan natin ng suporta.”</i> [It's not a joke because many people are experiencing it, especially the youth. So, if someone is depressed, we should support them.]<br /><br />Joey de Leon, who was in the studio listening to the interview, interrupted them and said, <i>“Hindi, huwag niyong suportahan, gawa-gawa lang niya ‘yun, pabayaan niyo…nagpapasosyal lang.” </i>[No, don’t support her. She just made it up. Let her be, she’s trying to be posh.]<br /><br />But de Leon didn’t stop there, he also added,<i> “Pag mayaman, depression. Pag mahirap, wala, wala ka nang pag-asa sa buhay.”</i> [When you’re rich, it’s called depression. When you’re poor, you are viewed as having no hope in life.]<br /><br />Watch video of the incident here.<br /><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Here are Joey De Leon's disgusting and dangerous comments about depression on Eat Bulaga today + Maine Mendoza taking a stand. <a rel='nofollow' href="https://t.co/jo6STsIcvs">pic.twitter.com/jo6STsIcvs</a></div>— DryedMangoez (@dryedmangoez) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/dryedmangoez/status/915838924160851970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br />As De Leon is currently in hot water, netizens shared their opinions and even experiences with depression. They had called out the veteran host for his remarks, calling him ignorant and insensitive. Some got so offended that they even went as low as mentioning the alleged rape case of Joey de Leon and the suicide of Pepsi Paloma during the 80’s.<br /><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">I almost lost Nanay and my sister because they were clinically depressed. Ewan ko sayo, Joey de Leon. God bless na lang.</div>— Yayoi Kusama Sutra (@Cinephilliacy) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/Cinephilliacy/status/915934279070212096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Tito Sotto on single parents "na-ano lang"<br />Joey De Leon to those suffering from depression "gawa gawa lang"<br /><br />Maturity doesn't come with age</div>— Papa C (@heeljoseph) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/heeljoseph/status/915931297188474880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Me while listening to Joey de Leon's bs: <a rel='nofollow' href="https://t.co/NTdmTjilsm">pic.twitter.com/NTdmTjilsm</a></div>— Yoshi mo 'to (@sleepingway) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/sleepingway/status/915904053401362432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Joey de Leon, people suffering from depression may commit self-inflicted harm and even suicide. <br /><br />Remember, Pepsi Paloma?</div>— The Diliman Files (@kwentongupd) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/kwentongupd/status/915896322410004480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><div dir="ltr" lang="en">Seven Filipinos commit suicide daily — that's one every 3.5 hours. Depression is a real mental health issue.<br /><br />It's only natural that Joey De Leon (<a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/angpoetniyo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AngPoetNiyo</a>) doesn't understand this, as one of the rapists who drove Pepsi Paloma to kill herself in 1985. <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperficialGazette?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SuperficialGazette</a> <a rel='nofollow' href="https://t.co/v9cLoBLXrK">pic.twitter.com/v9cLoBLXrK</a></div>— Superficial Gazette (@SuperficialGZT) <a rel='nofollow' href="https://twitter.com/SuperficialGZT/status/915902765968134144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br />This isn’t the first time that Joey de Leon made controversial statements. Back in 2015, he and Sen. Tito Sotto have made it to international news such as the BBC. The two decided to dress up as Arabs in a halloween costume show where everyone was expected to wear something scary or outrageous. <br /><br />According to World Health Organization, clinical depression is a common mental health disorder. Statistics would show that a close to 300 million people all over the world are suffering from it. Depression prevents people from functioning productively and is also the leading cause of disability worldwide.<br /><br /><b>-- Sally, The Summit Express</b></div>

Joey de Leon draws flak for depression remark; Maine Mendoza earns praise for rebuttal

MANILA, Philippines – Actor and TV host Joey de Leon drew the ire of many after it made offensive remarks about depression as a mental illne...

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