On ‘Willing Willie’

BY DUCKY PAREDES

MALAYA

‘If we must write rules for children in show biz, it would be best if the networks do these themselves.’

WILLING Willie” is, to me, representative of all that is wrong with television. But, having said that, I am not so sure that the beating that Willie Revillame is getting from all corners, probably deserved as it is, will change things for the better. In fact, a lot of dubious characters are coming out of the woodwork that indicate that there is more to this than disciplining a rogue performer.

Do I even hear calls to shut down Channel 5? That would really be too bad because Channel 5 seems to me to be trying to be a great TV station or at least better that the station where most of the anti-Willie missiles seem to be coming from.

The more troubling example involves one Dr. Ma. Lourdes “Honey” Carandang, a self-proclaimed expert on child psychology issues, who has denounced Revillame over the Jan-Jan issue although she has yet to meet the boy to make an informed assessment on him. (I wonder is she actually ever watched the program. I confess to not ever watching it.)

Who is Dr. Honey Carandang? Definitely, she has a business relationship with ABS-CBN as a regular lecturer in ABS-CBN’s team-building activities. She is also the aunt (or mother?) of former ABS-CBN executive and anchor and now Secretary Ricky Carandang.

Dr. Carandang wrote Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chair Grace Poe Llamanzares not only to condemn the purported exploitation of Jan-Jan. That’s fair enough; but why did she recommend the suspension of both Revillame and his program “Willing Willie?”

Carandang also urged MTRCB to pressure the sponsors of “Willing Willie” to pull out from the show. Is she doing all these out of concern (as a child psychologist) for the boy? Or, is she acting under instructions from some network executive?

Honey’s letter was made the basis by the MTRCB for whatever it will do on the Jan-Jan case. The Commission on Human Rights, on the other hand, has made Carandang a resource person in conducting its own hearings on the Jan-Jan issue.

The Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD) has also tapped Carandang to conduct a clinical assessment on Jan-Jan.

How can anyone throw the first stone, as it were, and still serve as an objective resource person for CHR and render an impartial assessment on Jan-Jan for the DSWD? Doesn’t her unsolicited letter to the MTRCB tell us that she had already made up her mind on the issue? Per her letter to the MTRCB, didn’t she already prejudge the issue?

In fact, how can Carandang be trusted on this matter when she is known to have ties with ABS-CBN? Let’s face it – ABS-CBN and Revillame have been at each other’s throats for a whole year now. She is the last person who should be consulted by the MTRCB, DSWD or CHR.

The MTRCB, DSWD and CHR should step back a little to see if they are not being taken for a ride by a group with an axe to grind and lots of lost advertising revenues to recover. But if ever a probe will really be pursued, it should be done industry-wide to be able to come up with clearer guidelines on child performers.

Remember that ABS-CBN, TV5, Willie Revillame, and his production company, WilProductions are in the thick of a bitter legal dispute pending with the courts because of Revillame’s transfer from ABS-CBN to TV5. In the contract dispute, counter-suit, and infringement case, ABS-CBN sought to stop the show Willing Willie but failed countless times, even in the Court of Appeals.

Atty. Leonard de Vera, Revillame’s lawyer, says: “Dr. Carandang had made a finding that child abuse was committed in Willing Willie even without examining Jan Jan. This amounts to malpractice as a doctor’s opinion should always be supported by a clinical examination.”

Dr. Carandang is a retired professor, clinical child psychologist, and the founder and president of MLAC Institute for Children and Families. She should know better than to pretend at being impartial when her ties to the main enemy of Willie and Channel 5 are so well known,

But, she has already succeeded. Her letter triggered the probe of three governmental agencies in this case.

The DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, in her statement dated 29 March 2011 said “(DSWD) condemns the emotional abuse and humiliation bestowed on a six-year-old child contestant, during the March 12, 2011 episode of the Willing Willie show aired on TV 5″.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) followed suit and declared, “The Commission on Human Rights strongly condemns the Willing Willie episode aired on March 12, 2011 wherein a 6-year old boy named Jan-Jan Suan performed a ‘macho-dancing routine.’ This is an exploitation of the child’s innocence and demeans his inherent dignity for entertainment’s sake.”

The MTRCB likewise designated a three-member panel with close connections with ABS-CBN: Leah Navarro, who had openly condemned Revillame in her Twitter account, is a cousin of ABS-CBN owner Gabby Lopez. Atty. Eric Mallonga is the chief legal counsel of Bantay Bata 163 – an ABS-CBN organization. Atty. Eugenio Villareal is counsel for various ABS-CBN’s talents and is married to an executive of ABS-CBN.

All three, however, opted out. Bully for them.

If we must write rules for children in show biz, it would be best if the networks do these themselves rather than waiting for some government agency to do it for them. What our network executives have to show is that they have some sense of what is right and wrong and that they care for things other than the money their networks make.

Then, at some point in the distant future, we may actually begin getting some quality programs. Hope springs eternal.

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