DSWD hits Willie for boy 'macho dancer'

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) condemned yesterday the emotional abuse and humiliation heaped on a six-year-old boy who performed like a “macho dancer” as tears rolled down his cheeks during the March 12 episode of the “Willing Willie” show aired on TV5.

The DSWD said in a statement it “has already communicated to ABC Development Communication chairman Manuel Pangilinan asking that children should not be allowed to appear in TV shows like Willing Willie, especially those capitalizing on poverty as a source of immediate entertainment.”

Host Willie Revillame, the show’s producers, and TV5, on the station’s official website, apologized for the segment featuring the boy, “which viewers may have found offensive or in bad taste.”

TV5 said the boy was accompanied by his aunt, and his performance in the show was “completely voluntary and with the blessings of his parents.” The network said the boy appeared to be in tears “because he felt the dance was “serious” and he was playing a role. He did not want to smile because of his missing upper front teeth and because of the presence on the set of former basketball player Bonel Balingit,” who the boy thought was a “scary giant.”

GMA 7 reported that the boy’s father said many were pleased by his son’s performance, which earned him P10,000. The money was used to buy a Portable PlayStation and a bicycle, he said.

In the formal letter to Pangilinan, the DSWD said “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. This is a clear form of child abuse and will not be tolerated by the DSWD.”