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Willing Willie episode sparks criticisms ranging from "poor taste" to "child abuse"

by Mark Angelo Ching posted on March 28, 2011  STATS: 257913 Views | 367 Comments

 

Willie Revillame interviews a six-year-old contestant during the March 12 episode of Willing Willie. This particular segment of the TV5 variety primetime program prompted varied reactions from viewers who perceived it as no less than "child abuse."

Photo By: Screen grab from YouTube

A live episode of TV5's Willing Willie has sparked outrage and re-ignited a hate campaign against the program's host, Willie Revillame.

The March 12 episode of the primetime variety and game show featured a six-year-old boy performing a sexy dance multiple times, to the amusement of the studio audience. (CLICK HERE to watch the video.)

In Willie's words, the kid is acting like a "macho dancer"—or in local parlance, a male prostitute.

The name of the kid is Jan-Jan. His aunt, Jocelyn, accompanied him to Willing Willie's Novaliches studio.

This segment of the episode has been uploaded on YouTube, a video-sharing website, where it attracted a number of viewers. At press time, the video has been viewed 291,889 times.

Many video viewers have posted comments. The majority have commented that the segment was "done in poor taste." A number of others have gone so far as to call it "child abuse." There have been many posts of hurtful name-calling. The viewers who placed blame zeroed in on Willie and the boy's parents.

A few entertainment personalities have already weighed in with their opinions—including Lea Salonga, Jim Paredes, Bianca Gonzales, and Kat de Castro. All of them have said that the incident is nothing short of "child abuse."

TALENT PORTION. Willing Willie is a primetime variety and game show on TV5, aired Mondays to Saturdays. It carries a number of games that aims to amuse the audience and to send them home with attractive amounts of cash.

The main segment is called "Wiltime Bigtime." It pits six contestants with each other, each fitting a chosen theme for the day. The themes determine the set of contestants for the day, and can range from housewives to kids to soldiers to jobless men.

"Wiltime Bigtime" has two rounds: the elimination round "Kantanong" and the jackpot round "Spin a Wil."

Willie introduces the contestants one-by-one during "Kantanong." He also interviews all of them, with the end goal of having them reveal the story of their lives. The contestants are quite willing to share a great deal, too.

The contestants are also asked to show off a talent, which will earn them a cash reward. Willie decides how much money he will give a contestant, depending on the talent shown, crowd approval, and the host's own taste. Talents to be demonstrated can be anything: singing, dancing, acting, or even reciting a poem.

WILTIME BIGTIME. A boy called Jan-Jan was one of the contestants in the March 12 edition of "Wiltime Bigtime." All of the six contestants were children.

[Under this subhead, PEP summarizes the contents of the video from YouTube. The ten-minute video has been edited to include only segments featuring Jan-Jan.]

The small boy carried a blank face when he was called to the microphone. This prompted Willie to call Bonel Balingit, a formal basketball player, from the audience. The tall Bonel then stood beside the short Jan-Jan while Willie said, "Ano Jan? Suntukan, gusto mo? Parang naghahamon ka ng away!"

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367 Comments

  • 187  rom_05

    03/29/2011 | 09:47 AM
    marami nga yatang naoffend sa nangyari dun sa bata but even willie hindi alam yung talent ng bata. Baka nga ni hindi tinuro ng magulang yung sayaw na yon malamang nakita lang nya yon sa TV dahil nga sa nasabi ko lahat yata ng mga variety shows and gag shows including going bulilit na supposedly pambata eh gumawa ng sexy dance na mas malaswa pa sa ginawa nung bata. I think willie is annoying and I keep convincing my mom the guy will show his true annoying color sa TV again and again pero all these people who were complaining shouldn't just focus on willie alone dahil as I said halos lahat gnawa yang sexy dance and it annoys me to the max that they keep making fun of a serious issue of women abuse tapos ngayon nag-iingay when a kid do the same dance for fun.
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  • 186  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 09:43 AM
    bakit gusto niyo lang kayo lang ng kayo ang bira ng bira kay Willie? Di naman tama iyon, syempre binibira niyo, kaya may magtatanggol din. di lang naman kayo ang tao sa mundo.
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  • 185  kokuryu

    03/29/2011 | 09:38 AM
    lumaganap na naman ang mga fanatico ni willie... mga bulag sa katotohanan... kahit nambabastos na eh ewan lang sa kanila...
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  • 184  Darlings

    03/29/2011 | 09:31 AM
    Do you think the Philippine Association of National Advertisers will still be supporting his show AFTER this? I think not. My heart really goes out to the child.
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  • 183  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 09:29 AM
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  • 182  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 09:27 AM
    greencardholder, wag kang traydor... pano tayo magkakaintindihan kung gagamitan mo ako ng language na di ko alam.. hahaha!
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  • 181  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 09:25 AM
    hahaha ano pikon na kayo? lay your ideas... hahaha ganyan ba ang mga haters , hate nila si Willie pero mga ugali mas masahol pa kay Willie.
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  • 180  angelafrica18

    03/29/2011 | 09:25 AM
    same old news sa mayabang na taong toh! pwede tanggalin na pagmumuka nito sa tv? gawin katatawanan daw ang bata. nakakaawa.. i guess the parents are to blame too. hindi dapat nila hinayaan sumali sa ganiton show.. na si willie pa ang host!
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  • 179  humandynamics

    03/29/2011 | 09:24 AM
    poor taste talaga. obvious naman na hindi masaya ang bata dahil umiiyak nga.. i think sa bahay palang pinagsabihan na ng magulang ang bata na lahat ng pinagagawa sa kanya ni willie gawin niya dahil kikita siya ng maraming pera.. ang mali ni willie pinagsamantalahan niya ang sitwasyon dahil alam niyang gagawin ng bata ang lahat ng sinabi niya.. tsk tsk tsk .........but to be honest im not surprise dahil nong umuwi ako sa pinas nakita ko ang mga bata naglalaro nung ikot ikot tska kumakanta tapos may pupunta sa gitna na ganyan din ang mga sayaw nila.. i was horrified, ang liliit kung sumayaw parang mga strippers.. but then again, yan kasi ang nakikita nila sa mga noontime shows.. hayyy ewan mahirap talaga sabihan ang sarado ang kaisipan kaya huwag na lang.
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  • 178  greencardholder

    03/29/2011 | 09:18 AM
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  • 177  greencardholder

    03/29/2011 | 09:17 AM
    ti ey en gi ey pala haha,, kakasira ng gabi to si Lilac crity ti ey en gi ey kasi eh wahahaha!
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  • 176  greencardholder

    03/29/2011 | 09:16 AM
    ang ti en ey gi ey naman netong Lilac a.k.a. cristy fermin sana daw ipagbawal na ibang bata like sa mutya etc. kitang kita naman ang pang e exploit sa bata sa weli shuw nyo. oh kamusta naman ang order ng mtrcb at ni dinky soliman? all for the love of money nga naman,, WEH!
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  • 175  kemedu_222

    03/29/2011 | 09:14 AM
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  • 174  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 09:08 AM
    concern concern sa bata... hahaha ang totoo ginagamit ang bata para lang matira ang show at si Willie. Kailan ba naging fair ang mga Willie haters? Ni minsan di kayo naging patas kay willie, pag nakakasilip kayo ng pagkakataon sasakay na.
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  • 173  jeff466

    03/29/2011 | 09:07 AM
    That's Willie Revillame so what's new?
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  • 172  LeightonMeisterrr

    03/29/2011 | 09:00 AM
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  • 171  edric

    03/29/2011 | 08:56 AM
    kasi naman paulit ulit pwede naman dun lang sa talent portion and then the dj keepo on playing the song ang nakakaloka pa binigyan pa ng focus at nilagay pa sa hydraulic ung bata at pinataas hala ay sumayaw pa ang back up dancers na sexy dancing kalorki
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  • 170  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 08:54 AM
    So what's your problem kung ako si Cristy Fermin.. hahaha. Cristy fermin is blunt and honest... hates her or love her. Di siya ipokrita,
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  • 169  Blood_Orchid

    03/29/2011 | 08:51 AM
    Kasalanan din yan sa mga magulang, they allow this to happen to their child. If this is a serious case of child exploitation it does start with the child's parents. Sometimes parents want fame that they ignore what their child would prefer to do just to get money out of it.
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  • 168  melody2

    03/29/2011 | 08:50 AM
    I am always watching WW but for me medyo in poor taste that portion. Ok sana kung short time lang but prolonging that dance number is not really that good kahit nakakatuwa. So WW strike one ka naman. And yes, please try to finish the show at exactly 9 caused masyadong gumagabi ang Babaeng Hampaslupa.
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