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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: 257829 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

  • 127  usagurl

    03/29/2011 | 03:54 AM
    If I were sa mga haters ni Willie manahimik nalang kasi halata naman na wala kayong alam about the Show at sa Law. My gosh! magbasa muna at mag aral kayo ng mabuti at baka makatulong pa sa inyo yon.
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  • 126  usbfre07

    03/29/2011 | 03:52 AM
    before this incident happen, i noticed that there are numorous times where Ive seen very young girls and gays wear skimpy outfits and perform a seductive dance routine on national tv in all 3 tv network programs including the internet and all of a sudden some people are alarmed and even condemn willie... as if youve never seen anything like it before...where do you draw the line? give me a break people
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  • 125  plato

    03/29/2011 | 03:50 AM
    Bakit sikat at mayaman si Floyd Mayweather? Maraming nayayabangan at naiinis sa kanya... Ganyan ang nangyayari kay Willie, the more people hate him, the more people will love him too. That's human psychology 101. Take it or Leave it. ...at yan ang sikreto ng mga TV station. It's either kapuso ka, kapamilya, or kapatid. You love Kapuso? You hate Kapamilya. You love Kapamilya? You hate Kapuso. Nagtatawanan lang mga may ari ng TV station sa opisina nila hahaha.
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  • 124  critics4u

    03/29/2011 | 03:43 AM
    I haven't seen the video and refuse to watch it...Willie is known to be bastos and it's just sickening that he let it happen sa national TV. at paulit ulit pa....MTCRB pumasa? susunod iiyak na naman si Willie sa show niya
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  • 123  StocksAndBonds

    03/29/2011 | 03:33 AM
    wala daw malisya at natuwa daw yung audience kaya okay lang!!! NGIEK!!! yung bata mismo umiiyak!!! anything that's done by a child involuntarily, forcing him or her to do it for entertainment of other people especially adults, is one form of disrespect and abuse to the rights of that child!! isa pa, sa totoo lang. ang daming malaswa sa local tv. especially ka-ba.dingan!!! okay lang kung iilan pero huwag naman yung lantaran!! kaya ang reputation ng pinas parang sa thailand na rin, for foreigners maraming trans.vestite, hom.os, etc. sa pinas, at mag-ingat ka raw sa maka-date mo dahil baka kapwa mo lalake!
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  • 122  jj4f

    03/29/2011 | 03:26 AM
    I haven't seen the youtube video yet, but based on what i just read, i feel pity for the boy. Teary na nga ang bata, pinaglaruan pa. Ang bata pag umiiyak, pinapakalma. Willie, the staffs and production, and the audience were insensitive. What is Shalani's doing? She's a lawmaker, wala ba syang nakitang mali at kinunsiteng maabuso ang bata? Isa lang ang nakikita ko dito, KARMA to both parties Willie and TV5. Ayan na, kayo namn ang bibigyan ni Willie ng kahihiyan.
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  • 121  Nurse26

    03/29/2011 | 03:26 AM
    *** This comment has been deactivated due to inappropriate content ***
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  • 120  StocksAndBonds

    03/29/2011 | 03:26 AM
    this is not a small matter, kung hindi ito na-agapan at kung walang nagreklamo, this will become worse. the next thing you know, a toddler will be made to dance ala-stri.p tease. so yes, this is a big deal. countries whose morality are down the drain are like this, walang paki ang mga mamamayan kaya smorgasboard na lang ang dating. huwag sanang umabot ang pinas sa puntong ganito. dapat pati magulang, i-report! umiiyak yung bata, pero enjoy naman yung magulang at tiyahin! that is one form of child abuse and neglect!
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  • 119  ducktales1657

    03/29/2011 | 03:20 AM
    TV5, there is always such thing as KARMA. For as long as you kept on justifying Willie's behaviour, to used and abused indigent and less fortunate people, your stationed won't be moving forward.
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  • 118  dubidu1992

    03/29/2011 | 03:15 AM
    *** This comment has been deactivated due to inappropriate content ***
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  • 117  ducktales1657

    03/29/2011 | 03:14 AM
    sa lahat na sumasang-ayon sa ginawa ni willie, sana lang di ninyo o mga kamag anak nyo na maranasan na mapagkatuawaan para lang magkapera, mga utak talanka.
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  • 116  ducktales1657

    03/29/2011 | 03:12 AM
    109 sana di maranasan nang kahit sino sa kamag anak mo na mapagkatuwaan. kung ikaw ay nag iisa pa lang sa buhay, sana di maranasan nang anak mo ang kailangan maging katuwaan nang mga tao para lang magkapera..ang sakit nun.
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  • 115  ducktales1657

    03/29/2011 | 03:07 AM
    bakit kasi ang dami pang sumusunod sa programma ni Willie. Sana lang sa mga nagsasabi na walang masama sa ginawa ni Willie, hinding-hindi mangyayari sa anak, apo or pamangkin nyo tulad nang pinagdadaanan ni Jan-Jan.
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  • 114  mylamaloka

    03/29/2011 | 03:04 AM
    people concentrate na lang kayo kung paano ma-solve ang poverty, corruption, unemployment at crime sa pilipinas hindi yang napakaliit na bagay pag-aaksayahin ng panahon at pera. isang apology lang yan tapos na. pero yung nangyayari sa pilipinas ang dapat pagtuunan ng pansin para umangat ang pilipinas. lesson learn para sa show yun lang.
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  • 113  lilac0808

    03/29/2011 | 02:49 AM
    sigaw niyo lagi boycot boycot ang advertisement ni Willie, pero wala naman nangyayari, bili pa din kayo ng bili, lalo lang dumarami ang sponsors ni Willie, infact siya ang may pinakamataas na sponsors.. hehe! Gawin niyo kasi, wag lang dito sa PEP, lagi kayong talunan.. puro lang reklamo wala naman ginagawa na mapatumba si Willie..hak hak!
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  • 112  ggb

    03/29/2011 | 02:48 AM
    sabi ni tatlong w tuldokcheezmisstuldokcom wla ng mababago kay WIllie. Tayo na lang magbago ng gustong panoorin. So how do you stop the antics of a self-professed "savior of the masses," singer, millionaire, breasts-loving celebrity? How do you put a halt to the unbridled attention it un-rightfully deserves? Don't give yours.
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  • 111  galore

    03/29/2011 | 02:37 AM
    BOYCOTT lahat ng produktong nag a advertise kay willie!!!!!!!!!
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  • 110  ogagikaw

    03/29/2011 | 02:21 AM
    kinakasangkapan ni willie yung kahirArapan ng isang tao.yung ang ginagawa nyang alibi para sa show nya para sa mahihirap. daw .sa hirap kasi ng life sa pinas kagat sa patalim yung ibang tao kahit isakripisyo yung bata..sa ibang bansa they question you ,the parents etc,,,only in the phils..everything is impossible because of money and power...
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  • 109  parisperezhilton

    03/29/2011 | 02:10 AM
    101 The message Willie's show is sending is that child abuse on Philippine Television against poor Filipino children is acceptable! He demonstrates with his attitude towards the poor boy that he is a disgraceful, despicable and disgusting monster ... a bottom feeder! He doesn't mind profiting off from other people's misery in his lust for fame and money.
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  • 108  Misty16

    03/29/2011 | 02:01 AM
    to gokapamilya, obserbasyon ko po at opinyon ang aking naisulat. Puro papogi points naman talaga ang mga nakaupo sa gobyerno pero di lahat. Tama ito'y isang bata na nawalan ng dignidad, pero di lang iisang istasyon ang guilty. Me tfc ako at ang Going bulilit e sa tingin ko e me nilalabag din. Me napanood ako na nagbabakla baklaan ang mga batang lalaki, bakit kailangan gawan ng comedy skit ang preferred na kasarian ng isang tao. Dapat rumespeto tayo sa pagkatao at kasarian ng isang tao. Huwag maging sarado ang mata sa paligid..Maraming talamak sa paligid na lumalabag sa RA 7610
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