Boy abused in ‘Willing Willie,’ DSWD says
By Jojo Malig, abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 03/28/2011 6:08 PM | Updated as of 03/29/2011 4:26 PM
MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) –The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has stepped into the controversy involving television show “Willing Willie” and a 6-year-old boy who was made to dance in a lewd manner in exchange for P10,000.
The DSWD said the incident that aired March 12 on TV5 is clear case of child abuse.
“The sequence shows the boy gyrating in a distasteful manner with the audience, including the host (Willie Revillame), manifesting no evidence of concern or alarm for the child,” the agency said in a press statement.
“This incident is clearly a violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and a blatant manifestation of child abuse,” it said.
The DSWD said child abuse includes the following acts: “psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment,” and “any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child as a human being.”
“Putting pressure on children to do acts such as mimicking adult sexy dances, in exchange for a certain amount of money, and at the expense of being laughed at and ridiculed by hundreds of people, clearly traumatizes the child,” it added.
“This is a clear form of child abuse and will not be tolerated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development,” the statement said.
