TV host Willie Revillame caught the public’s ire when he had the inset of the cortege of former President Cory Aquino yanked off while it was being flashed onscreen during his noontime show “Wowowee” last Aug. 3.

Willie’s “outburst” resulted to an online petition (at least 33,000 strong as of Aug. 10) seeking to oust him. The Alyansa ng Filipinong Mamamahayag Inc (AFIMA), an organization of writers, also issued a strongly-worded statement against what they call Willie’s latest shenanigan.

On Aug. 10 on “Showbiz News Ngayon,” Kris broke her silence on the matter.

“First of all, Friday [Aug. 7] ko lang nalaman lahat [about Willie].. [Tapos] Thursday night ko nakausap si Willie pero vague.

“[Then] Friday namin [with her sisters] pinanood sabay sabay [that ‘Wowowee’ episode’] sa You Tube. And then, we didn’t get to talk about it that much kasi nagpunta na kami sa Times [Street] at nag-ayos kami ng things ng mom.

“[Later that day] Willie [called] and asked, ‘Puwede ko bang makausap ang mga kapatid mo?’ So, kinausap niya si Pinky and… nagso-sorry talaga siya.

“Pinky said, ‘Alam mo, napanood namin at nakikita namin na hindi ‘yung intensyon ang masama. Ang pamamaraan ng pagsasabi ang puwedeng maging concern sa ilan.’

“[Then] Pinky said, ‘[But] as far as I am concerned, Willie, it is finished. Okay, we accept your apology.’

“Two days after [Aug. 9], Willie texted again, ‘Puwede bang makausap ko kayong lahat?’ Feeling ko naman [that] in our family, si Ate (Balsy)  ang dapat niyang makausap. So, I gave Ate the phone [and], again, Willie explained and said he was sorry.”

Kris also addressed rumors about people advising her not to accept Willie’s apology.

“I got certain text messages na kung ide-defend ko daw si Willie, parang binastos ko na rin ang mom. Gusto ko lang po sabihin sa inyo, Willie can very well defend himself. Pero, ito po ang namagitan between him and our family.

“Noong nagso-sorry si Willie kay Ate [ay] sinabi ni Ate sa kanya, ‘Alam mo Willie, noong time na nagkaroon ka ng problema sa puso mo…mom said, ‘I want to know kung kumusta si Willie.’

“And then Ate told him, ‘Alam mo, Willie… my mom loved you. She really appreciated the fact na ang bait mo sa mga anak ni Kris.

“‘Willie, as far as our family is concerned, nag-sorry ka na [at] tinatanggap namin ang apology mo.’”

In the end, Kris felt it is not up to her family to pass judgment on what Willie did.

“We are not MTRCB, we are not ABS-CBN, we are not KBP - but we are the Aquino family.

“And our family…we have taken Willie’s apology for what it is, an apology. [And] we accept the apology.

“Wala po sa kamay namin kung ano ang mangyayari in the future, pero I can speak on behalf of my sisters and my brother [that] we accept the apology.”