Willie Revillame, TV5 execs slapped with child abuse case
MANILA, Philippines – In what is dubbed as landmark case, TV host Willie Revillame and TV5 executives were slapped with a child abuse case by rights advocates, Monday, April 25.
Six individuals and officials of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) filed the case at the Quezon City Fiscal’s Office. Apart from Revillame, TV5 Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan was named respondent.
“We cannot allow our laws protective of children’s right to be trampled upon. So we have to act. This group has been protectively fighting for children’s right,” said Jean Enriquez, Exec. director, Coalition Against Trafficking In Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) on “TV Patrol,” April 25.
The case stemmed from a six-year-old boy’s “macho dancing” episode on “Willing Willie” aired March 12.
In a report by ABS-CBNnews.com, the complaint sheet said that “the depiction of the child in such a sexualized fashion is tantamount to abuse and exploitation.”
It added that “the degrading exhibition is compounded by the cruelty of the show's main host, mocking his [boy’s] appearance amidst the laughter of the jeering crowd.”
The complainants particularly accuse Revillame and TV 5 executives of violation of several laws like Republic Act (RA) 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act; RA 9775 or the Act Defining the Crime of Child Pornography; and RA 9231 or An Act Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
TV5 executives refused to comment on the case as they have not yet received copies of the formal complaints. TV5 Business unit head Jay Montelibano, however, reiterated that there was no child abuse nor child exploitation that took place in the show--a position, he said, that they are ready to defend in the court.
The complainants said they are bereft of any connection from any media entity.
“No we are not funded. ECPAT is not an organization funded by any media network at all. We are not interested in any network rivalries or politics. We just want to make sure that children are defended,” Amihan Abueva, ECPAT President, said.
