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A Sick Mind in the Entertainment Industry

THE RECENT CONTROVERSY involving Willie Revillame brought to surface how sick this man is. And he should be banned completely from the entertainment industry in order to effectively avoid his sick mind from getting into homes through the tube. No amount of apology can restore the damage he continues to cause through his TV programs. It is not the first time. And it will not be the last even with all his apologies.

On its 12 March 2011 episode of TV5's "Willing Willie," Revillame abused a child on air without even realizing what he was doing. The early evening program allowed a six-year-old boy named Jan-Jan Estrada to perform dance moves like a male erotic dancer, and endure public redicule and banter from the audience. The boy already cried in embarrassment, and Revillame did not even have a clue on how much suffering the boy endured on the stage in the name of "his" brand of entertainment. Worse, he had the show's spinner repeat the song five more times, forcing the boy to continue "macho dancing," rubbing acid into the boy's wounded psyche.

Revillame's statement during the event tells a lot of his mind: "Umiiyak pa yan... Ngayon pa sa hirap ng buhay ng tao... Si Jan-Jan siyempre sasayaw bilang macho dancer sa edad na yan para sa kanyang pamilya... pinahanga mo ako Jan-Jan... Lumuluha yan... parang sa pelikulang 'Burlesk Queen'... umiiyak na ganoon... ginagawa para sa pamilya. Masama ang loob pero kailangang gawin para sa mahal sa buhay." [Is he encouraging the boy to do so by giving him reasons to become a macho dancer? Very sick.]

I have not seen this episode. But imagining what happened, my stomach turned in disgust.

The worse thing about this is, Revillame's moral bankruptcy towards child protection spilled into his audiences who joined him in psychologically abusing the child in public.

The Special Protection of Children Agains Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (Republic Act 7610, Section 10) defines "child abuse" to include such acts as "psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment." What happened to Jan-Jan Estrada fell very well within "psychological abuse," "cruelty," and "emotional maltreatment."

Maybe it is time to clean show business from sick minds like that of Willie Revillame.

At the end of the day, corruption does not exist only in the field of politics and government service. This case shows that it has dangerous heads in the entertainment industry too. And corruption like this are no less damaging and repulsive to Filipinos of commendable decency.

[ECHOES
Senator Francis Pangilinan held the same opinion and made the same call on 10 April 2011.] 
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