Rights lawyer bats for TV game show host

MANILA, Philippines—Television host Willie Revillame, whose game show featuring a boy gyrating while crying spawned public outrage that led to the temporary cancellation of his show, has found an ally in a leading human rights lawyer.

Lawyer Romeo Capulong of the Public Interest Law Center and former member of the United Nations Criminal Tribunal defended Revillame from his critics, noting that his actions on his show Willing Willie did not necessarily constitute child abuse.

“I have reviewed the unedited clip and am persuaded that neither Mr. Revillame nor the station had the intent to abuse Jan-jan or any of the child contestants. Intent is a state of mind and nothing in the video shows any intent to degrade, debase or demean the intrinsic worth and dignity of Jan-jan,” Capulong said in a press statement.

During the controversial episode (March 12) of the game show on TV5, Revillame was seen teasing and egging on the six-year old boy, identified as Jan-Jan Suan, who was in tears while performing a body wave dance normally performed in lewd shows. The uproar against Revillame led to a one-month cancellation of the show.

The human rights lawyer, whose clients included the President’s late father, former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and political activists and party-list leaders Satur Ocampo and Rafael Mariano, said Revillame’s right to be heard was violated by Aquino government officials.

Capulong cited Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and Commission Human Rights chair Loretta Ann Rosales, saying they failed to exercise discretion when they pre-judged the host as having violated the child’s rights.

“I am troubled by the pronouncements of DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman and CHR Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales as expressed in separate letters dated March 28 and 29 sent to the top management of ABC 5 and/or released to the public,” said the lawyer.

“In both letters, Secretary Soliman and Chairperson Rosales unequivocally concluded that what happened on ‘Willing Willie’s’ March 12, 2011 episode was a clear case of child abuse under Republic Act No. 7610, otherwise known as the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.”

Both Soliman and Rosales declared Revillame and his home network TV5 guilty of violating the law even with the absence of an investigation. They also signified their intentions to investigate the matter with the mind that child abuse happened without getting Revillame’s side, Capulong said.

Soliman had insisted that she had the mandate to pass actions on abuse cases as the chief of the Department of Social Work and Development. According to the DSWD chief, she saw the video of the episode and deemed it traumatizing for the child.