Jan-Jan's parents sue blogger, psychologist for libel

(Updated 10:01 p.m.) The parents of Jan-Jan Suan, the six-year-old boy who performed a “macho" dance in the television show “Willing Willie," filed on Wednesday libel charges against a blogger, a psychologist, and administrators of a Facebook page who called their son an “abused child." Joe and Diana Suan filed the complaint before the Quezon City Prosecutors’ Office, charging psychologist Ma. Lourdes Carandang, blogger John Silva, Froilan Grate and several other administrators of the Facebook page which allegedly made their son the “poster boy" for child abuse. “Hindi namin kailanman pahihintulutang magamit si Jan Jan sa adhikain ng iba’t ibang tao. Labag sa aming kalooban na gawing halimbawa o ‘poster boy’ ng child abuse ang aming anak," they stated in their complaint-affidavit. (We can never allow Jan Jan to be used for the causes espoused by other people. It goes against our will for our son to be turned into an example or ‘poster boy’ of child abuse.) Grate, meanwhile, was unfazed by the filing of the complaints. "We believe that the purpose of the case is to scare us into silence," he said in a report aired over GMA News' "24 Oras." "We are at the side of the truth so we are not afraid. Handa kaming harapin ito (We are ready to face this)," he added. Silva, for his part, said he believes Jan-Jan's parents were just being used by the camp of Willie Revillame, the show's host, to harass them.
Jan Jan performed a “macho dance"—which is considered a male stripper’s lewd dance by many Filipinos—during the March 12 episode of “Willing Willie." His performance was uploaded online, triggering public anger that snowballed into social media campaigns. The incident and ensuing public outrage also led the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Commission on Human Rights to condemn the alleged child abuse. A hemorrhage of advertising pullouts from the show followed the outcry. Revillame and the show’s other producers have issued an official apology for the incident, expressing “profound regret for any insensitivity." They also denied that Jan Jan was a victim of child abuse, saying they did not force the boy to perform the controversial dance moves. Nevertheless, Revillame announced Friday last week that the show would voluntarily go off-air for two weeks while he contemplates his next move. Respondents Silva was charged with libel for supposedly posting on his blog a campaign note urging people to boycott “Willing Willie" advertisers, and which bears the picture of their son while dancing during the show’s March 12 episode. The campaign note read as: “What do these companies, Willing Willie, Channel 5 and pedophiles have in common? They like boys doing macho-dancing!" Grate, on the other hand, was named a respondent in the case for starting a Facebook page entitled “Para kay Jan Jan (Shame on you, Willie Revillame!)" and containing a video of their son dancing, which supposedly placed their child’s “talent" for dancing “out of context." “Ang malisyosong pagkaputol o pag-splice ng video ay ginawa upang palabasin ng mga taong ito na si Jan-Jan ay pinilit sumayaw kahit na ito ay labag sa kanyang kalooban at kahit na siya ay umiiyak na," the parents said. (By malicious video cutting or splicing, these persons made it appear as if Jan-Jan was forced to dance even though he did not want to, and even if he was already in tears.) Carandang, meanwhile, was charged with libel for writing a letter to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) calling their son a victim of child abuse. ‘Body wave,’ not ‘macho’ dance The Suan couple maintained that their son was neither forced to dance nor abused in any way during his appearance on Revillame’s show. “Si Jan-Jan ay hindi naabuso at kaming magulang ay ‘di pumapayag na siya ay abusuhin ng sinuman kasama na ang patuloy na paggamit sa kanyang paglabas sa telebisyon," they said. (Jan-Jan was not abused, and we his parents refuse to allow him to be abused by anyone, including those who continue to use his television performance for their ends.) The complainants also clarified that the dance performed by Jan Jan was called “body wave," which they said was not offensive. They added that the controversy has ruined the reputation of their family. “Dahil sa mga nabanggit na pangyayari, nasira ang karangalan ng aming pamilya at ng aming anak… Ang dati naming masaya at tahimik na pamumuhay ay biglang nagulo at nabulabog," the complaint read. (Because of the said events, the honor of our family and our son has been damaged… Our previously happy and quiet lives have suddenly been disturbed and disrupted.)—JV/KBK, GMA News