MANILA, Philippines – While advertising expert Emily Abrera commended a major advertiser for pulling out its ad from the TV program “Willing Willie” for showcasing a six-year-old boy named Jan-Jan doing a “macho dance,” Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro noted that the blame should not be placed on one program or one person alone.

Speaking to reporters during the “Balitaan sa Aloha Hotel” forum last Wednesday, Abrera said pulling out advertisements from the program hosted by Willie Revillame is the right thing to do.

“I laud these people because that is the right action to take,” said Abrera. She noted that advertising companies have so much to do to help in this situation.

She said they can help the issue move forward and make people re-think the way these programs correctly or incorrectly influence Filipino popular culture.

“Tama lang ‘yon. (That’s right). I do endorse that thing,” Abrera said.

A major sponsor had already pulled out its ad from Revillame’s show after the incident while there were reports that other sponsors are planning to follow suit.

But Luistro, who claimed that “we all have sins here,” pointed out that “we should not only give our reactions to this issue of child exploitation.”

More importantly, he cited the need to create shows that give good values even if not too many people will watch them.

“This is the dilemma of advertisers and good writers,” said Luistro while conceding that this is an example of an audience-driven show in Philippine culture.

“We should go through a bigger analysis. Are we giving up values for expediency or money? We are all to blame because we allowed our colleagues and the government, as a whole, to forget the rights of our children. We look on how to get money, to get a pay increase. So we really need to look at ourselves,” Luistro said.

While DepEd has been mandated by law to look after the rights and welfare of children, he said the education sector is just one part of the entire society.

He said although the education department may make a program change to push through with this advocacy, it still lacks the leg to stand on without the cooperation coming from all sectors of the government.

The former De La Salle University (DLSU) president said Jan-Jan gyrating in full view of the public while crying is a symptom of a deeper problem.

He said this is not about creating more laws to protect the rights of children but about a cultural turnaround.

“This is not the job of just one sector, not only the government. If we are to focus on this problem, it will have to be revival of the values of everyone. Every sector has a role to play,” he said.

Luistro said he felt sad that what the young boy did was on national television.

“Our care for Filipino kids has been overturned. I was asking myself, what happened to the Philippines which have a culture for taking care of our children and placing them on a pedestal,” Luistro said.

He said it was not Jan-Jan or his family who was hurt in this incident but the Filipino culture.

“In our culture,” Luistro asserted, “we do not trample on the rights of children. We have high respect for them and they are always in the front of every Filipino gatherings. In fact, we have the biggest devotion to Sto. Nino.”

Abrera backed the stand of Luistro na money still plays an important role in showing this kind of scene in a television show. She said this is about ratings and eventually, advertisers who will put their money in a particular TV program.

“If a show attracts more people, the ratings will go up,” said Abrera who emphasized that if nothing will be done on the Jan-Jan incidence, the people will be accustomed to it and this will eventually become acceptable to them.

Riza Ng, a child psychologist from the MLAC Institute for Children and Families, said “if we don’t take care of this issue now and we don’t help Jan-Jan, then how else can we help the children face the future?”

“If we can’t face this issue, this very small issue affecting our children, how else can we face the bigger national issues if we cant help the children now? We must always emphasize the respect for children. When you see the little child crying already, shouldn’t that be a signal already that there’s something wrong? The child is not comfortable already. So we will not allow our children to dance at the expense of being laughed at, being mocked and ridiculed, the audience reacting that way, the parents not fully understand, what’s the value we are passing on to the children and to the audience,” she said.