The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the suspension of TV5 show "Willing Willie" by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) because of an episode involving a six-year-old boy dancing like a macho dancer.
In an 11-page decision by its Second Division penned by Associate Justice Manuel Barrios, the appellate court ruled that the one-month suspension handed down by the MTRCB on Willie Revillame's show was valid due to the "offensive and obscene segment."
"What is clear is that respondent MTRCB validly and correctly performed its duty as enjoined by law in reviewing and assessing the subject content and thereafter, imposing the proper sanction when the content was found indecent, immoral or obscene.
"A review of the recording of that segment shows a 6-year old boy gyrating like a macho dancer while being cajoled and goaded by the show's host and the audience...is commonly perceived as transpiring only in night clubs and other shadowy establishments," the decision read.
Revillame, in defense of the show, said there was no intention to ridicule or abuse the boy, but the appellate court said the footage of said segment revealed "the emotional pain on the part of the child and the insensitivity of the host and the audience in egging the boy on even as he was already in tears."
In suspending the show, the review board ruled that the subject episode "violated a law against immoral and indecent broadcasts that run counter to Filipino values."
