This issue on the sexy dancing 6-year old has ballooned over the past weeks and is now currently dying down. By "dying down", I mean it has not been going around as much, and I do not see links and/or posts about this incident flying around either Facebook or Twitter. The show host, Willie Revillame, along with the television show, are on a 'break' for the past week (which will continue after next week) so this seems to be a resolved issue. Seems.
What exactly has been resolved?
The issue that many people have, i.e. violated rights of a child, has not really been handled to its conclusion. Sure, advertisers have pulled/suspended their ads from the show in order to cut ties with a possible children's rights violator. One after another, the advertisers - the bread and butter of any major mass media institution - pulled out. The show probably lost money on this, and then again, maybe not. While the actions of the advertisers seem to be supporting the case against violation of rights, it just seems like they want to wash their hands off this issue, IN CASE it does get messy. Food for thought: "rats abandon a sinking ship".
Bloggers and other media personalities, while very vocal in their condemnation of the show host for allowing the travesty to happen, are currently under attack themselves. The parents of Jan-Jan are even suing said bloggers, stating that all the media hype that has engulfed their family (along with the non-too-flattering "child abuser" label) is causing more damage to the child's well-being, as compared to the performance of their child on national television, lack of taste notwithstanding. What does this lawsuit do for the persons involved then?
In my opinion?
NOTHING GOOD.
Parents:
If (and this is a big if) they win the case against the personalities accusing them of child abuse, they get some money, sure, but that's about it. They will forever be remembered as the parents of one unfortunate kid who, with one televised performance, united thousands of Filipinos against child abuse. Pride, dignity, and reputation can never be covered by any amount won in a suit.
On the occasion that they lose this lawsuit, well, that's just plain ol' salt to the wound for them.
Bloggers/Personalities:
There is such a thing as freedom of speech, and as a blogger, I would feel really sympathetic if they were condemned for expressing their feelings and opinions through the written word. Granted, we bloggers are emotional and vocal creatures; this is one of the main reasons we blog. However, the intentions of the bloggers and various other individuals who spoke out against child abuse, the show host who displayed some insensitivity during the performance, and the television network for airing it are good; one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who spoke out against the issue out of personal gain. If these people were to lose the suit, it would be a sad day indeed for pro-active actions of Filipinos, and if they were to win, no point would have been proven, since it is the child abuse card that is on the table all along.
The Host:
If the parents win the lawsuit, perhaps some measure of comfort and "justice" would be felt by the host. This does not erase the fact that what has happened on that fateful episode of his show has already been burned onto the souls and minds of the Filipino viewer. He has his supporters, and he has his haters. At the end of the day, it is up to him to change and be more sensitive and more genuine in his quest to "help the poor", and stop involving himself in situations where he could potentially earn yet another detrimental label. If the parents lose, he still keeps the reputation he has, and he is still off the air.
Jan-Jan:
The lawsuit, should it favor his parents, does nothing for the boy. Now, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines would probably not be able to do anything in order to help him, and in the case that there MAY be child abuse, he is pretty much on his own. If his family loses the lawsuit, the loss of family dignity and honor would be something he'd feel for the rest of his life. In the end, he will be the biggest loser, no matter how this turns out.
And to the parents: If you both did not want this issue to escalate further, why pursue a lawsuit? Congratulations; you have now drawn even more attention to this incident.Jay~
There have been recent developments regarding the recent incident involving a minor dancing like seedy entertainer on national television. This particular one is far more disturbing as it shakes the very foundation of common sense and logic.
Jan-Jan's parents are NOT filing charges and they do NOT "see anything wrong" with what transpired on that show.
What??
Yes, that is exactly what is mentioned in this news article. What is even more disgusting was some of the things the parents had to say in that news report:
"That’s what my son wanted, he liked to be famous, become a star...I just supported my kid...that’s what he wanted."
- Jojo Estrada, father of Jan-Jan.
Daddy's issue here is fame. Fame that his six-year old apparently wanted to have, and so, being the "supportive father" that he is, allowed his son to be the object of "entertainment" and ridicule from thousands and thousands of Filipino viewers nationwide. An issue arises here: When does "supporting" your child's "dreams" simply become a parent using his child as a tool for a quick buck and a claim to fame? I do not wish to treat children as if they are second-class citizens, but children are children for a reason: they need the GUIDANCE, DISCIPLINE, and PROTECTION of their parents (barring that, their guardians). What Mr. Estrada did was none of those; I do not claim to be an expert on parenting but no father should presume that being famous is what his child needs right now. Now, his son and his family are famous, true, but for all the wrong reasons.
It's difficult to say which camp is more wrong, but the fact remains that there is something wrong in this incident. If there wasn't, then the national public outrage that this has caused would constitute about the population of a public bathroom. This is not the case though. Thousands are speaking up against this form of "public entertainment"; clearly, it has violated an inner sense of righteousness and fairness among many Filipinos. I admit: I do not watch Willing Willie, but say I was a new viewer (all of you Willie die-hards were once first-time viewers too, so no hypocritical remarks) and this was the first episode I saw (which is true for my case), wouldn't I have the right to be appalled at what I saw? I was, and horrified too. The video brought out emotions of anger at the crass exploitation of a child who literally did NOT know any better, the classless gags and VERY tired jokes, as well as the frustration that real, living human beings are eating up and consuming shows such as these.
Shows with no cultural, societal, and moral values.
NONE WHATSOEVER.
None, as proven by the casual - almost nonchalant - indifference of the child's parents against those seeking to defend their child's rights.
We all need to take a stand. Our national identity and values cannot be a street-side whore for the consumption of many.Jay~
This was an issue that has been around for a couple of weeks now, but has only come to my attention recently. It's a well-known fact that here in the Philippines, entertainment shows abound (though their methods of "entertaining" are rather dubious at times) and one particular show, hosted by a certain Willie Revillame, takes the cake for appalling "humor".
There is a video of this incident, but I feel it is not necessary to spread it around until the kid's face is obscured to spare him further humiliation, degradation, and loss of respect. Here is a post with a screenshot of the performance. Basically, this is the picture:
The show's host, Willie, has gained some notoriety on certain tasteless and allegedly exploitative acts in order to promote his show. He throws around money like cheap candy (in this particular case, he hands P3,000 to JanJan's aunt for hugging him. Yeah, he needs more of that.) and in the eyes of many viewers "struggling to make ends meet", he's the second Jesus himself. This show featuring JanJan, however, is just horribly wrong.
It starts off innocently enough. A poor kid from a poor family is featured on a show. Fine. He is asked to dance. Fine as well. However, the child's dance was akin to the sort that red-light district performers are prone to do, which wouldn't be as terrible as it became had the kid not been crying during his entire performance. He was clearly distressed, but the show's host, the kid's aunt, and the vast majority of the audience were egging him on. For the next five minutes or so, Willie repeatedly asked JanJan to perform over and over again. The distressed look on the kid's face never disappeared. He was given P10,000 (about $200) for his troubles.
Entertainment vs Morals
The issue that many people such as myself are bringing up in response to this show is not because we "hate" Willie Revillame. For some, that is indeed true. I am indifferent as to who he is. My personal problem is that this man allows unacceptable things to happen; a child of 6 years dancing provocatively on stage for money definitely counts as unacceptable in my books. Aside from that, the fact that many people find this practice "alright" for "poor people" is not only judgmental; it is a display of total dumbf*ckery (pardon the language, I'm pretty mad).
When the host was explaining "how difficult life is... he's [JanJan] doing this for his family..", did any of the viewers stop to think why a child would do this "for his family"? Yes, life is hard, especially in a third-world country like ours, but dignity and self-respect shouldn't be the first two things to be sacrificed for two hundred bloody dollars. In the video, the kid mentioned his dad operated a parlor (a barbershop) and the host was suggestively questioning the father's occupation, which he does not have a right to do. JanJan's family is much better off than many other Filipinos simply because his father has an occupation. Yeah, an occupation but not honor and certainly not the protectiveness expected of a father. Why am I putting so much of the blame on the father? The kid says he learned to dance that way FROM HIM. And of course, the father - along with the mother and the ecstatic aunt - would have given permission for him to appear on television the way he did. This scares me; parents and guardians have no qualms about sacrificing the dignity and self-respect of children for the sake of "providing for the family" and/or "making a living during desperate times".
Oh, and it also did not help that the host, the crowd, and the viewers that day I am sure, were hooting and cheering as a child (who should either be in school, watching cartoons, or playing in the park) showed the country what he is being taught to do all for the sake of making a quick buck.
We have prostituted our society.
All of us are liable, unless we speak up and stand up against this. United, we the people of the Philippines, can topple an institution that has made a mockery of our supposed Christian values and the familial ethics we claim to be so proud of.
Thanks to Definitely Filipino for the picture and some info.Jay~
