TV5 vows reforms, may not be enough for MTRCB

Facing widespread public rebuke for alleged “child abuse" on its show Willing Willie and possible government sanctions, ABC TV5 has imposed a moratorium on contests and game shows involving minors. The network’s chief operating officer Robert V. Barreiro also informed the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) at a hearing Monday that his company will follow stricter guidelines on the appearance and performance of minors on all TV5 programs. The case involving six-year-old boy Jan-Jan Estrada dancing in tears on Willing Willie to a cheering studio audience last March 12 has brought condemnation of the television episode and calls for reform in television programming from government agencies like the Commission on Human Rights and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, as well as groups such as the United Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) and World Vision Philippines. According to the MTRCB web site, Barreiro said the network has appointed an internal Ombudsman to entertain complaints regarding offensive programs. The network’s Ombudsman will also designate representatives to supervise all auditions of TV5 programs. Furthermore, he added that his network has created a Standards Advisory Board composed of, among others, a psychologist, a creative director, and a children’s communications expert. He also said that TV5 has engaged the services of a team of psychologists to attend to Jan-Jan’s needs. But TV5 stopped short of punishing the program Willing Willie or its controversial host Willie Revillame, as the MTRCB is demanding.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV “ABC TV5 should be able to impose punitive sanctions on the program [Willing Willie] and its hosts, which can range from a reprimand to a cancellation of the TV program itself, in the spirit of self-regulation," said the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in its “Third Briefer on 'Willing Willie' (Child Abuse Case)" posted Monday evening on its website. MTRCB Chairperson Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares added in her statement: “Still, the sufficiency of any such sanctions shall be subject to final determination by the Hearing and Adjudication Committee, and the approval of the Chairman." The MTRCB's Hearing and Adjudication Committee held a preliminary conference hearing Monday afternoon on “the complaint of a child abuse scene in the 12 March 2011 episode of 'Willing Willie'," stressing that “the MTRCB is determined to resolve expeditiously this case of paramount importance." The Committee also required “the immediate submission of the Investigation Report of ABC TV5’s internal Ombudsman no later than Thursday, 07 April 2011, at the continuation of the preliminary conference hearing." Calls for sanctions have been heard from various sectors since the controversy erupted two weeks ago. In a March 28 letter to ABC chairman Manny Pangilinan, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman wrote, “it is unmistakable that what happened last 12 March 2011 to Jan-Jan Estrada was child abuse." Media columnists, entertainment celebrities such as Monique Wilson, Aiza Seguerra and Jim Paredes, and elected officials including Quezon Rep. Erin Tanada and Coop-NATCCO Party-list Rep. Cresente Paez have also called for punitive measures against the show's producers. – YA/HS, GMA News