MANILA, Philippines?Reached for comment on criticisms against the ?adult? content of ?Goin? Bulilit,? creator/director Edgar ?Bobot? Mortiz described the show as a ?younger version? of the GMA 7 gag show ?Bubble Gang.? And business unit head Deo Endrinal cited kid?s viewing habits that are ?slowly evolving.?

Edgar ?Bobot? Mortiz

?Goin? Bulilit? was created really to showcase kids portraying adult roles. We?ve been doing this for five years now. [Initially] we received mixed reactions from viewers. We explained to them that this was not your typical educational children?s show. This is also why it?s aired at night and not in a morning time slot. It was created to discover new talents in comedy.

?Di naman ito bastos. We feature political satire. We present everyday scenarios in a humorous manner. It?s like a younger version of the gag show ?Bubble Gang.? Five years ago, we tried to come up with a show na pwedeng itapat sa ?Bubble Gang.? We couldn?t think of any, so I thought it best to train children actors for this. We wanted to start them young.

There aren?t enough children shows as it is. If we don?t watch them, they will not do well in the ratings, and advertisers will not ... invest in them. The same thing has happened to the movie industry. Quality films made by the likes of Lino Brocka didn?t do well in the box-office, so producers kept making sex films, which did better.

Deo Endrinal

The viewing preference of kids is slowly evolving. This year, ABS-CBN has been very successful in creating programs that are kid-friendly and, at the same time, appealing to the adult audience. We air them on the prime-time block, where the biggest bulk of the audience is, and not just the cartoon block in the morning.

Four of our prime-time shows got the Anak TV Seal. Parents watch them along with their kids because the shows impart valuable lessons. The defunct ?May Bukas Pa,? about a child named Santino, teaches spirituality to children. Another defunct show, ?Tayong Dalawa,? also appealed to a lot of kids. Not only did it inspire nationalism; it also taught the youth a sense of responsibility.

Viewers of children shows are part of a niche market. These shows cater to a small segment of advertisers. This is why, in prime-time shows, we focus instead on value formation. We infuse value on our current programs without letting go of our core audience. I must mention here that, last year, ABS-CBN produced the first full-length animation TV series, ?Super Inggo,? which was well supported by advertisers.