Wikipedia edit war on ‘Halik’ page and the popularity of adultery-themed TV shows

October 31, 2018 - 5:07 PM
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Halik program title card
Yam Concepcion (Jade Bartolome), Jericho Rosales (Lino Bartolome), Sam Milby (Ace Corpuz) and Yen Santos (Jacky Corpuz) star in ABS-CBN's adultery-themed show 'Halik.' (Facebook/Halik Official Abs-Cbn)

A screenshot of an edited Wikipedia page of ABS-CBN’s drama series “Halik” made the rounds on a popular discussion forum after names of its cast were changed to acutely represent their characters’ roles.

Reddit Philippines user “zyhan” shared the screenshot which shows its main cast having different character names than the usual.

Shout out sa nag edit ng Wiki Page ng Halik! from Philippines

Jericho Rosales as Lino Bartolome was named “Gwapong agrabyado,” Sam Milby as Ace Corpuz was named “Gandang lalake pero walang balls,” Yen Santos as Jacky Corpuz was named “Tangang natuto” and Yam Concepcion as Jade Bartolome was named “Malanding higad.”

As of this writing, however, the Wikipedia page has already reverted back to its normal state.

Its editing history, on the other hand, shows that the page was indeed manipulated for amusement as far back as October 23. It’s not clear whether the same person had committed the previous edits or not.

In the October 23 edit, Milby and Santos’ character names were changed to “Putang ina” and “tang ina,” respectively.

Screen Shot1_Halik page
Screenshot of an edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

But on October 25, the character names were reverted back to its original state. Apparently, someone had noticed the edits.

Screen Shot2_Halik page
Screenshot of an edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

Five days later, someone edited the page that reflected what was captured on the popular Reddit post.

Screen Shot3_Halik page
Screenshot of an edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

Milby was named “Gandang lalake pero walang balls” and Concepcion as “Malanding Higad.”

On the same day, someone reported to Wikipedia that a “possible vandalism” has occurred and fixed back Milby and Concepcion’s character names.

Screen Shot4_Halik page
Screenshot of an edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

But the individual responsible for the edit caught on and once again changed it back to the previous hilarious ones.

Screen Shot5_Halik page
Screenshot of an edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

Further review of the edit history shows that a back-and-forth sort of text manipulation happened on October 30, leading to the screenshot that eventually made its way to Reddit.

Screen Shot6_Halik page
Screenshot of a detailed edit history in “Halik’s” Wikipedia page as of Oct. 31, 2018.

Meme-worthy 

“Halik” has previously inspired several memes on social media as of late. It is an indication that the evening drama series has earned a following among Filipinos.

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Ito talaga yun eh… Tsk… #halik

A post shared by Abzz Aris (@abumar) on

According to market research firm Kantar Media, “Halik” has reached an “all-time national TV rating” of 27.1 percent as of October 25. It has also become the most watched series in ABS-CBN’s streaming platform iWant TV.

Other popular ‘kabitseryes’

“Halik” tells the story of two married couples whose marital relationships are filled with temptations, betrayal and misunderstandings.

Two of its main characters, Jacky (Santos) and Lino (Rosales), were supposed to be with each other but certain circumstances have prevented them from marrying. This led them to go their separate paths and marry a different lover instead.

Similar television series dealing with themes of adultery have also made waves and earned high ratings as well.

ABS-CBN’s “The Legal Wife“—which stars Rosales as well—reached a rating percentage of 36.2 in its last episode on June 13, 2014.

It was considered the “most-watched show” that year, according to Kantar Media’s data.

GMA Network’s “Ika-6 Na Utos,” which has the same theme, also became popular with a rating percentage of 10.4, based on AGB Nielsen’s report.

Like “Halik,” it has also inspired some viral memes, most notably when Ryza Cenon pointed a neon green nerf gun to Sunshine Dizon in one of its episodes.

On adultery 

Adultery remains one of the most pressing issues among married couples, despite “a near universal disapproval” of the concept, Channel News Asia notes.

Couple in a fight
Adultery remains one of the most pressing issues among married couples, despite ‘a near universal disapproval’ of the concept. (Creative Commons/File photo)

Joseph Chamie, the research director of the Center for Migration Studies in New York, cited that the issue has “become more visible and prevalent worldwide.”

According to him, even though adultery is prohibited in religious doctrines, countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the Philippines continue to have its fair share of adulterous cases.

Despite the behavior, people still generally consider it an immoral act. Chamie wrote:

“A global survey across 40 countries, covering three-fourths of the world’s population, found 78 percent suggesting that married people having an affair was morally unacceptable.”

“Those involved are reluctant to admit adulterous behavior even to researchers. Despite measurement difficulties, a 2005 global survey estimated that 22 per cent of married people worldwide admitted to having committed adultery.”

“A 2016 survey suggested that in more than one-third of marriages, one or both spouses commit adultery.”

The research director cited that modern technology has played a big part in cases of adultery. Mobile phone messaging, cameras, social networking, pornographic websites and the internet have all given people the leeway to communicate with one another through a clandestine manner. — Featured photo from ‘Halik’ Official Facebook Page