Eat Bulaga Dabarkads Joey de Leon asked the netizens to stop forcing them to retire, saying that they still wanted to reach the 50th anniversary of Eat Bulaga.
In his Facebook Live, the 76-year-old host said that his colleagues Tito Sotto, 74, and Vic Sotto, 69, still wanted to work, not to earn money but for other people.
According to him, people should let old people work if their body wants to.
“Ang tao, hangga’t gustong gumalaw, pabayaan mong gumalaw. Kung gustong magtrabaho, pabayaan mong magtrabaho,” Joey said.
“Malalaman ‘nyo ‘yan ‘pag tanda ‘nyo, kung umabot pa kayo dun. Kaya ka nagtatrabaho ‘pag tanda mo, hindi na para sa sarili mo yun, para na ‘yan sa ibang tao. Para na ‘yan sa pamilya mo, para sa kamag-anak mo.” he added.
In 2029, Joey will be 82 years old, and fans are praying that TVJ will be healthy enough to reach the 50th anniversary of Eat Bulaga.
However, it was already expected that Dabarkads would celebrate their 50th anniversary in TV5, not in their long-time home GMA Network.
Netizens are also hoping that TVJ would win the trademark of Eat Bulaga title that currently being held by the Jalosjos family-owned TAPE Inc.