DSWD lauds CA’s ruling on Revillame case

REVILLAME was sued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development for child abuse after he made a 6-year-old boy perform like a “macho dancer” on his game show.

THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday welcomed a ruling by the Court of Appeals affirming the validity of a trial court’s arrest warrant issued against TV host Willie Revillame on a child abuse case.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said her office has yet to receive a copy of the decision but applauded the court’s ruling on the case involving a 6-year-old boy who was the alleged victim of exploitation in an episode of Revillame’s game show in 2011.

Soliman recalled how Revillame “made a 6-year-old boy perform gyrating dance movements on national television in an earlier version of his show” which prompted the filing of charges against the TV host.

“We remain committed to our mandate of promoting and protecting the welfare of children in all aspects and settings,” she said.

In the episode, Revillame goaded the boy into performing a sexy dance for a P10,000 cash prize. The boy did the dance and later cried in humiliation, drawing public outrage.

In a decision issued on Friday, the appellate court’s 13th Division ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of Judge Roberto Buenaventura of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 86 when he issued an arrest warrant against Revillame in 2013.

“We observe that the resolution of this case had long been delayed because of the petitioner’s (Revillame) refusal to submit to the trial court’s jurisdiction and his erroneous invocation of the rules in his favor,” the court said in the decision written by Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla. DJ Yap