‘The People Have Spoken’ is a fun take on public opinion

As opinion-oriented shows make their way to television and online platforms, GMA Network’s new weekend program “The People Have Spoken” attempts to put a more playful spin on the genre through a game show format, bannered by the tagline: “POV mo, panalo!”

Hosted by Heart Evangelista and Sean Lucas, the show pits two teams against each other as they try to guess which opinion is the more popular sentiment among the studio audience on a series of topics.

Joining the Kapuso hosts are Miss Philippines Earth 2025 Joy Barcoma and comedian Baus Rufo, who bring their signature humor as the show’s guest commentators.

“Unang Hirit” hosts Susan Enriquez, Suzi Entrata-Abrera, Mariz Umali, and Lyn Ching served as the contestants in the pilot episode that aired on June 6. Enriquez and Entrata-Abrera competed as Team SanZi, while Umali and Ching played under Team MaLyn.

Since the show was announced shortly after the premiere of ABS-CBN’s revived “Y Speak 2.0” last month, many online wondered whether the series was GMA’s answer to having its own opinion-oriented program, with the game show mechanics serving as its distinguishing feature.

While “Y Speak 2.0” is anchored in discussions of current affairs, the questions on “The People Have Spoken” focus on general, everyday topics, such as whether the saying “First love never dies” is true or which would hurt more: people not showing up at your wedding or at your funeral.

It is worth noting that both programs target different audiences based on their format and language. “Y Speak 2.0” uses both English and Filipino and asks questions geared toward a senior high school and college audience, while “The People Have Spoken” heavily uses Filipino to appeal to a mass audience.

The show also feels somewhat similar to “Family Feud,” as both programs rely on audience responses. The difference is that “Family Feud” presents them through survey answers, while “The People Have Spoken” determines the most popular opinion among a series of choices.

The closest the pilot came to tackling serious issues was a question on whether respondents would report to the police a robber who stole money from a bank to help the poor, and another on whether they would confront, block, or report an office manager who spreads fake news on social media.

In the robber scenario, both teams correctly guessed that the majority of respondents would report the person to the police. Ching reasoned that while the robber’s intentions may have been noble, committing a crime does not make the act right.

Both teams also correctly predicted that most respondents would report their office manager to human resources for spreading fake news. Umali argued that employees may not be in a position to criticize their superiors, but HR officers can address the issue appropriately.

In the end, Team SanZi emerged victorious with 450 points against Team MaLyn’s 380, earning a spot in the bonus round, where they had to identify three of the most popular responses to the final prompt. The team won P100,000 after correctly guessing what regular bus commuters would hate the most: being pickpocketed, needing to pee during the trip, and sitting beside a smelly passenger.

Prior to the show’s premiere, netizens expressed mixed reactions to seeing Evangelista host a program centered on public opinion. Her public image has recently become divisive due to her association with her husband, Senator Chiz Escudero, amid controversies surrounding alleged ghost flood-control projects.

It remains to be seen whether future episodes will feature questions that tackle serious or controversial issues connected to current events – topics that could spark discussion both during the episode and online afterward.

Whether due to the circumstances surrounding Evangelista or not, the fact that “Y Speak 2.0” now airs only on cable and online after being removed from free TV following an episode featuring former ABS-CBN journalist Christian Esguerra’s criticisms of certain politicians, may suggest that “The People Have Spoken” is unlikely to venture into politically sensitive territory.

Judging from the pilot alone, Evangelista brought a bubbly energy to her first foray into game show hosting. At the same time, she was unafraid to share tidbits about her personal life based on the prompts, revealing that actor John Prats was her first love and reminding viewers that her parents did not attend her wedding.

Complementing Evangelista is her co-host, Lucas. Together, they project a sibling-like dynamic that is perhaps one of the show's most surprising and endearing qualities.

Perhaps the show’s biggest area for improvement is audience participation. While audience members in the taped episode provide the opinions that fuel the game, they are largely limited to watching contestants guess their responses.

Allowing viewers to participate in the guessing process themselves could make the format more engaging and allow viewers to share in the winnings as well, especially considering the show's tagline, “POV mo, panalo.”

Based on its pilot, “The People Have Spoken” shows considerable promise and has the potential to become a staple of GMA’s weekend programming in the long run. Evangelista and Lucas are more than capable in their hosting duties, and it will be interesting to see the opinions that future celebrity players bring to the game.

“The People Have Spoken” airs on GMA Network every Saturday at 6:15 p.m., following “24 Oras Weekend.”