‘Willing Willie’ lawyers attack MTRCB for ‘bias’

Three members of a government regulatory committee inhibited themselves after lawyers for Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC TV5) charged that they had conflicts of interest in hearings on complaints against the show Willing Willie. In an online statement, Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), confirmed that singer Leah Navarro and lawyers Eric Mallonga and Eugenio Villareal will no longer be part of the panel hearing the sensational case. “Even as I affirm the integrity of the Members of the Hearing and Adjudication Committee, I regretfully accept their voluntary inhibition in order to dispel any doubt as to their impartiality," Llamanzares said on the MTRCB web site. " Effective immediately, a new Hearing and Adjudication Committee is hereby constituted to determine the guilt or innocence of the respondents in this ‘Willing Willie’ case." The case involves alleged "child abuse" on the March 12 episode of the program when a crying six-year-old boy appeared to be prodded by controversial host Willie Revillame to gyrate like a macho dancer in exchange for P10,000. During a five-hour hearing Thursday night, TV5 lawyers had “raised the issue of alleged impartiality of the Chairman and members of the Board’s Hearing and Adjudication Committee," according to Llamanzares. The network and its flagship program were represented by the powerhouse law firm Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW). In a press release posted Thursday on TV5’s website, the network’s lawyers challenged at the outset the jurisdiction of the MTRCB over the subject matter of the complaint against their client because it involved “a direct accusation of alleged acts of child abuse, which is criminal in nature." The statement added that “the creation and composition of the present panel do not afford TV5 due process, particularly its right to be heard by an impartial tribunal, considering that all 3 panel members are conflicted as they have close links or relationships with a rival network involved in legal cases with TV5 and Willie Revillame." In response, the MTRCB chairperson explained: “The change in the composition of the Committee is to assure the public that the Board will only be guided by established facts and the law in the disposition of this case. This is also to avoid any attempt to further delay the expeditious resolution of the case." Video ‘spliced and edited’ TV5 submitted its own internal investigation report to the MTRCB, claiming that “the versions of the incident that were circulated on YouTube and Facebook were substantially different from what actually took place and was aired on the TV program." TV5 noted that while video footage of the boy took “48 minutes in the actual show, the YouTube and Facebook versions lasted for only around ten minutes or less," leading them to conclude that “the YouTube and Facebook videos were deliberately spliced and edited" to put the program, its host, and its live audience “in the worst possible light." “They made it seem as if Jan Jan was crying throughout his performance, as if the boy had been coerced, and as if Revillame had acted callously to humiliate the young contestant," the TV5 press release stated. “In fact, the full, unedited recording of the program showed that Jan Jan was clearly and more often ‘emoting’ while dancing and that when he did cry it was because of the intimidating presence of Bonel Balingit and because he had lost in the game portion of the show," TV5 added. Bonel Balingit is a towering basketball player who appears regularly on Willing Willie. He was called by Willie to stand beside the little boy before he was made to dance. Macho dancing now ‘Philippine pop culture’ TV5 insisted that the little boy’s performance – which Willie had described during his show as “macho dancing" – “was not lewd or obscene," preferring to refer to it as “a dance form called ‘body wave’ …no different from the familiar dance moves we have been accustomed to today." TV5’s internal investigation report labored to explain that “body wave dancing has become part and parcel of Philippine pop culture," adding that “[i]n many town fiestas and private gatherings, adults allow their children to dance in this manner." TV5 also presented to the MTRCB at Thursday’s hearing “dance numbers of children with very similar dance movements as those of Jan Jan’s" which were broadcast on a rival television network’s show. The Board, however, is not bound to accept the results of the TV5 internal investigation. Pursuant to Section 3(d) of Presidential Decree 1986 (creating the MTRCB), at any time during the pendency of the case and in the interest and welfare of the public, the Board is empowered to issue a 20-day preventive suspension order against TV5’s program “Willing Willie." As held by the Supreme Court, the power to issue preventive suspension forms part of the MTRCB’s express regulatory and supervisory statutory mandate. Preventive suspension is not a penalty by itself. It is merely a provisional measure and is without prejudice to any final disposition, and/or sanctions imposed, by the Board. As of posting time, the MTRCB chair has not announced when the hearings will resume, considering that a new Hearing and Adjudication Committee now has to be constituted. - GMA News