Dancing boy's parents hurl raps anew vs psychologist, 2 others

The parents of Jan-jan, the six-year-old boy who performed a controversial sexy dance on national television, filed on Tuesday a new set of complaints against three people: a psychologist, a blogger, and a Facebook page administrator. Joe and Diana Suan, parents of Jan-Jan, lodged child abuse complaints against Dr. Lourdes "Honey" Carandang, blogger John Silva, and Facebook page administrator Froilan Grate before the office of Quezon City Prosecutor Geogre Cabanilla at about 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The Suans, who earlier filed separate libel charges against the three also before the city prosecutor's office, said the latest complaints were for alleged violation of Section 10 (a) under Article VI of Republic Act 7610 or the "Child Abuse Law." The parents criticized Carandang for writing a letter to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) complaining about the incident. The MTRCB later launched an investigation into the matter. The parents are suing Silva after claiming in one of his blog entries that Jan-Jan was a "victim of pornography" when he was allowed to perform sexy gyrations during a segment of TV5 noontime show "Willing Willie" in exchange for P10,000. Grate, meanwhile, was being sued for accusing the boy's parents of committing child abuse for the same incident. Grate set up a Facebook page called “Para kay Jan Jan (Shame on you, Willie Revillame!)" that contained a video of the boy dancing, which supposedly placed his “talent" for dancing “out of context." For their family's protection The Suans' family lawyer John Pineda said Jan-jan's parents decided to file the lawsuits to protect their family. "Eto po ay desisyon ng magulang upang proteksyunan ang kanilang pamilya sa nagsasabing gusto silang tulungan pero sa totoo ay hindi nakakaigi sa kanilang pamilya," Pineda said. The parents said Jan-Jan was emotionally hurt not by the "macho dancing incident" but by the public outrage that was triggered by Carandang, Silva, and Grate's statements in public. "Kapag lumalabas siya at may nakakakitang bata, tinutukso siya kaya apektado si Jan-Jan ngayon (Whenever Jan-Jan goes out of the house and children see him, they make fun of him. So he is really affected nowadays)," said the boy's father. For her part, Jan-Jan's mother said all they wanted was to have a "quiet life," adding that they did not expect that the issue would be blown out of proportion. However, unfazed by the libel complaints, Grate earlier said the parents were merely trying to "scare us into silence" while Silva suspected that Jan-Jan's parents were just being used by the camp of Willie Revillame, the show's host, to harass them. Blaming the psychologist Revillame earlier blamed Carandang for the public uproar over the "macho dancing" incident. His legal counsel Leonard de Vera said the child psychologist may be biased against his client because she reportedly works as a consultant of ABS-CBN, which had a controversial falling out last year with Revillame over the noontime show "Wowowee." De Vera alleged that Carandang recommended to the MTRCB that Revillame's TV5 show should undergo a "reformat" and children's participation in the program be disallowed. De Vera added that Carandang reportedly also cited the past controversies that Revillame figured in, including the "2006 Ultra Stampede" and the 2009 incident over former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino's burial. Revillame's lawyer criticized Carandang for her reactions to the incident. "She was suggesting he has not learned from his past mistakes and might not be able to... All her energy was focused on someone who she has not even interviewed on this issue," De Vera said. Child abuse Carandang had earlier declared in a public discussion organized by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that the incident was a clear case of "child and emotional abuse." After attending the public discussion, Carandang told reporters that her affiliation or that of her son — Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ramon "Ricky" Carandang - to ABS-CBN had nothing to do with her criticisms against Revillame's show. Ricky was a former ABS-CBN News Channel anchor. "The only reason I am involved here has nothing to do with Willie, Channel 5, or any channel. Ang rason lang ay ang ang bata," Carandang said. The CHR and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have both deemed the incident as a case of "child abuse." The DSWD has likewise already provided Jan-Jan's parents with family counseling. The public outrage over the incident has prompted a number of advertisers - including a fastfood chain and a pawnshop - to pull out their ad placements from Revillame's show. Past controversies Revillame parted ways with ABS-CBN last year after figuring in a spat with entertainment host Jobert Sucaldito, a talent of the same TV network. In his radio program last year, Sucaldito questioned why Revillame had to feature in his noontime show contestants who are “bobo" (stupid) in one episode. After his falling out with ABS-CBN, Revillame transferred to rival network TV5 to host its primetime variety show "Willing Willie." Revillame was also highly criticized for the Ultra Stampede that killed more than 70 people and injured hundreds more during the anniversary of his ABS-CBN show "Wowowee" in August 2007. The stampede happened when the crowd waiting outside Ultra for Wowowee's first anniversary show suddenly started to rush toward the entrance gate after learning that organizers were already handing out tickets for the show. De Vera stressed that the government has already cleared Revillame of any liability in the Ultra (also known as the PhilSports Arena) stampede. De Vera maintained that ABS-CBN's security was to blame for the stampede and not Revillame. As for the "Cory burial" incident in August 2009, De Vera claimed it was the ABS-CBN management's decision to continue with regular programming on the day of Mrs. Aquino's burial. "Sabi niya magpre-tape na lang tayo to be shown at a later time... Tumawag si Wiliie puwede daw ba itigil namin itong show namin at ibigay na natin lahat ng programa kay Cory... The management told him hindi puwede, kailangan kumita tayo," he said. De Vera said his client was ordered at the last minute to do a live show. The controversial episode showed Willie ordering his production team to stop featuring a live video of Mrs. Aquino's cortege as it travelled to its final resting place. There was public outcry over what was generally perceived to be Revillame's act of disrespect for the late president. However, De Vera said, "He (Revillame) showed his displeasure but he was misunderstood. He did not want the program to go on with the show even a day before that." – VVP, GMA News --