Willie Revillame, the host and producer of the show Willing Willie shown on ABC 5 was accused of child abuse for the episode that aired last March 11, 2011. It involved the six year old boy named Jan jan who have gyrated and danced like a macho dancer while tears were rolling down his eyes.
The performance of the boy in one of the segment earned him the P10,000. The video that was posted on Youtube and became popular on social media sites had sparked public outrage in Facebook and in Twitter. The Willing Willie word have became trends in micro-blogging site Twitter. It was shared by thousand of Facebook users.
One of the concerned individual who have send a letter to the family of the six years old Jan jan was Cathy Babao Guballa, a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. In her letter she wrote about her sympathy not only to the child but also to his family who used the said show of Willie Revillame and used himself as a tool to be laughed at by thousands of live and television audiences.
Guballa wrote in a letter, “It’s not all about the money, Jan-jan. The dignity of every child must be upheld. By allowing you to perform that way, they trampled on you and made you feel so small. I could see the fear and embarr(–foul word(s) removed–)ment in your eyes. It was undeniable. If there was only some way to rescue you from that moment, I’m sure every parent worth their salt would have done so,”
DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman wrote to the management and producers of Willing Willie about the said issue of child abuse. Secretary Soliman wanted Pangilinan to rebuke Revillame for his “insensitive and deplorable actions,”. She warned the show not to allow children’s appearance and used the plight of the poor for the show’s gain.
Meanwhile in a statement on Monday, Willie Revillame, the producers of “Willing Willie” he was quoted as saying “We 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.”
The boy macho dancer Jan jan Suan Estrada came from Quezon City. His father Jojo Estrada saw nothing wrong with Jan jan’s performance instead they were proud of the popularity of his six year old son. The father explained that Jojo cannot smile during the show because he has no teeth and he was also afraid of big man Bonel Balingit who was present.
Here is the video of boy macho dancer Jan-jan:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5-PGZqC-9Y[/youtube]
I’m confused why they singled out janjan’s dancing in willing willie when in fact there’s a lot of tv programs in other networks showing unbecoming acts of children just to get the nods of judges. For instance, the 8 year old girl who performed a belly dance during the audition of Pilipinas Got Talent Season 2. the girl was wearing a bra, her entire tummy exposed, her hair and face fully made up to make her look older while she danced seductively to the music. She even got a “yes” vote from the 3 judges. Unfortunately, nobody tweeted about it. At least janjan was bully clothed when he danced. And for those who were not able to see the whole episode of willing willie, the boy did not cry because he was forced to dance; he cried when he saw bonel balingit standing beside him, and whose child wouldn’t be, balingit is such a huge man. I bet most of you only show a segment of the show which was maliciously posted in youtube.
If we are really serious in protecting our children’s rights, the rules should apply to all other tv programs. Singling out one tv show is very unfair and only confirmed the suspicion that there’s something fishy about this case. For me , the highest form of child abuse is using an innocent child in order to get back at someone. I the boy only danced in Eat Bulaga or in any ABS CBN show, I’m sure nobody would give a damn!
To those artists, politicians and so called champions of children’s rights, instead of only blaming the parents and show organizers, first and foremost, they should have (removed)yzed the root cause on why janjan and other kids like him, do what they did. As role models and legislators, what have you done to prevent such acts? Or are we all being hypocrites here?
…….and what about the “Sexbomb Gays” who performed on Talentadong Pinoy . They were a group of 13-17 year old boys dressed up as girls doing a mock impersonation of the Sexbomb Girls. I dont know who to disapprove of the most, the TV Show for presenting that or the parents of the children for tolerating their kids to behave like that. To much exploitation of children is tolerated and accepted on Filipino TV. Its being drilled into the public that it is a trend and to enjoy it, i don’t enjoy it.