MANILA, Philippines—It was a clear form of child abuse, said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman Monday.
In a stern letter to TV 5 chair Manny Pangilinan, Soliman castigated TV host Willie Revillame for making a six-year-old boy gyrate “distastefully” in exchange for money on his show “Willing Willie.”
Soliman noted that Revillame taunted the dancing boy, nicknamed “Jan-Jan,” as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Persuading a little child to dance sexy adult dances in exchange for a measly sum, while he is being laughed at and ridiculed will definitely traumatize the child,” Soliman said in her letter.
She said what happened to the boy was child abuse and would not be tolerated by her or the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
She said the DSWD would get in touch with the boy’s family to determine the impact of the incident on the child and determine if he and his parents needed counseling or stress debriefing.
Soliman asked Pangilinan to rebuke Revillame for his “insensitive and deplorable actions,” and not to allow young children to appear in Willing Willie and other shows that cash in on the plight of the poor.
She said that the young boy’s rights were clearly violated.
“There are limits to children appearing on television, and clearly, your 12 March 2011 episode did not respect the rights of the child and traumatized the six year-old boy,” she said.
She further expressed concern that Willing Willie was cashing in on the poor. According to her, “there is no need to rob them of their dignity in the name of uplifting their condition.”
Inquirer columnist Cathy Babao Guballa also criticized Revillame after he prodded the clearly uncomfortable boy to continue dancing.
“How low will Revillame go to please his audience, and how pathetic and desensitized have we become as a people—unfeeling to allow a grown, middle-aged man torment and torture a poor, helpless child?” she said in her column.
She also noted—to her horror—that the studio audience seemed to have enjoyed the show.
In a statement Monday, Willie Revillame, the producers of “Willing Willie” and TV5 said they “sincerely and deeply apologize for the segment of the show featuring 6-year-old Jan-Jan which viewers may have found offensive or in bad taste.”
“We wish to stress that there was never any intention to humiliate or abuse Jan-Jan or any contestant on the show. ‘
Willing Willie’ is a program that was conceptualized to bring joy and hope and shine the spotlight on ordinary Filipinos. The program aims to provide a venue for everyone to show their talents, tell their stories and make their dreams come true. This is the thrust of everyone involved in the program, particularly its host, Willie Revillame,” the statement said.
“Like most contestants on the show, Jan-Jan, accompanied by his aunt, joined the program to showcase his talent and play in a game segment in the hope of bringing home big prizes. He has performed in the past in school programs and mall contests, and his performance in ‘Willing Willie’ was completely voluntary and with the blessings of his parents,” it added.
The statement said the boy “appeared to be sad or even in tears, not because he was being forced to dance, but because he felt the dance was ‘serious’ and he was playing a role. He did not want to smile because of his missing upper front teeth and because of the presence on the set of former basketball player Bonel Balingit whom Jan-Jan thought was a scary ‘giant.’”
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
