In an official statement, CDO Foodsphere, Incorporated would rather continue their business with Willing Willie out of good faith. In contrast, Jollibee Food Corporation, pulled the plug from Willing Willie taking a chunk of advertising money from the embattled prime time show.

With CDO it's business as usual taking TV5's good faith promise. They took TV5's word that the show will not be the same again. Who are they fooling? Would Willie Revillame become squeaky clean like Piolo Pascual overnight? We know Willie. We know that advertisers make its research before they decided to buy commercial and promo spots in the show. We know CDO's market relies heavily on the popularity of Willing Willie's format. 

So for CDO to say, ". . . TV5’s WillingWillie has, no doubt, jolted us out of our comfort  zones as an advertiser in the top-rating show," is not true. Child exploitation shown on national television should've angered the executives of CDO but it would rather continue to fund this show out of "good faith" because they "are not in the position to pass judgment on the incident."  

CDO saw Jan-Jan's tears and dance, got jolted but they cannot pass judgment on the show. What values does CDO speak of now?

I am boycotting CDO products because I am against child exploitation and abuse and they continue to turn a blind eye on 6-year-old Jan-Jan Estrada's situation.

We invite you to read a related post on this matter of consumer activism, which many of us have become part of.

Salamat sa inyong pagsuporta sa pagsisikapang sulatan ang lahat ng mga advertisers ng ​​Willlie Revillame's show sa TV5, Willing Willie upang huwag nang mag-advertise sa show, gayunpaman, hindi hihinto dito ang petisyon. Ang responsibilidad na ipasa ang mga batas na magpoprotekta sa karapatan ng ating mga anak ay nasa Kongreso. Dahil dito gumawa ulit po ako ng sulat upang ipetisyon ang agarang pagpasa ng nararapat na batas. Paki-copy and paste na lang po ang template na nasa baba at ipadala ito sa namumuno ng komite na si Hon. Aurora Enerio-Cerilles. Ang bawat miyembro ng kongreso ay may paunang responsibilidad na gumawa ng batas na magpo-protekta sa interes na ating bansa. Kailangan kumilos na po tayo ngayon upang masiguro ang pag-pasa ng batas para hindi na maulit pa muli ang pangyayari na katulad kay Jan-Jan.

Binibigyan ko din po ng parangal at pasasalamat sina Hon. Erin Tañada at Hon. Bernadeth Herrera-Dy sa agarang pagkilos sa isyu at pag-file ng House Bills 4455 at 1146.
Ipagpatuloy ang trabaho. May lakas sa nakararami.

(Thank you for supporting the effort in writing all the advertisers of Willlie Revillame's show on TV5, Willing Willie, however, the petition doesn't stop there. Congress has the equal responsibility to pass laws that will protect our children's right and because The House Committee On Welfare of Children hasn't acted on Jan-Jan's case, I made another template letter below asking why this committee hasn't led any moves to investigate this child abuse case. Every member of congress has the sole responsibility to enact laws that should protect our interest as a nation. We need to act responsibly and make every member of congress accountable to ensure passage of laws and such acts will not be repeated. 

Please copy and past the petition below and email it to Hon. Aurora Enerio-Cerilles who is the Congressional Welfare of Children committee head in this 15th Congress. To this end, I want to thank Hon. Erin Tañada and Bernadeth Herrera-Dy for acting on the issue and filing House Bills 4455 and 1146. 

Let's continue the work. There's Power in numbers.)

(Please copy the letter-template below, click the link below, and paste it on the field)

Dear Hon. Aurora Enerio-Cerilles:

Since Congress called for an investigation to the Willing Willie show incident, the Committee on Welfare of Children you lead have not made any visible steps nor file any bill that will protect the - welfare of children. The committee you head has jurisdiction over "All matters directly and principally relating to the needs, education and overall welfare of Filipino children. . ." I am surprised that it took Hon. Lorenzo ' Erin' Tañada and Hon. Bernadeth Herrera-Dy to file House Bill 1146 (MTRCB Code of Ethics) and House Bill 4455 (Children Act of 2011) respectively. 

Children are not a side issue and as a citizen of this nation, I have equal responsibility to do every right thing to protect their rights. This includes closely monitoring every move congress makes that will curb abuse made on minors.

If congress will not do more, please know that this letter effectively becomes a record counting the number of days until members of this 15th Congress passes a bill that protects children's rights. 

Respectfully yours,

Ipadala po dito: Hon. Aurora Enerio-Cerriles

Please send it here: Hon. Aurora Enerio-Cerriles

(Mandaluyong) IN THEORY there would be more people betting on the lotto prize of more than Php500,000,000.00 today but interestingly no one has won it yet. In comparison, I was told that during President Arroyo's time Malacañang Palace officials would win it more than one time. How true is this? If this is true, did PCSO had itself used for the wrong purpose? I'm researching this right now and it would be a heinous crime to fool the citizens of this nation. Just a (creepy) thought.

 

Let's say the Roman Catholic church continues with its excommunication of the president, what would happen next? Below are five thoughts (serious and farcical) that proves this move is counter-productive:

1. The church will be in danger of becoming irrelevant - At the end of the day, the government will continue to function and the president can convert to another Jesus-centered denomination. Will the government disenfranchise the Roman Catholic church? Interesting.

2. Jesus never excommunicated - Though the bible hinted on excluding a person out of the body of Christ, Jesus never said a message that a sinner can never repent and be part of the church once again. Did Jesus ever send fireballs from heaven to kill the Pharisees and those who condemned him? He teaches us to love our enemies right?

3. Excommunication is just on paper - The word means to suspend or to be deprived or to be out of communion. What does the Roman Catholic faith mean by this? It's just a paper. The person can just move on with his life and still believe in Jesus.

4. The Roman Catholic church will be sending the wrong signal - The church will cast fear on its members and it will be counter-productive. It could even mean excommunicating majority of its members. Why? Who follows the teachings the Roman Catholics give faithfully?  Lately, there are twenty-one incidents of excommunication in the 21st Century alone. See if the following things fall under the society's category.

5. We'll be included in the Guinness World Records (again!) for the first president to ever get excommunicated while in office.

So will excommunication ever prosper in light of this situation with the Philippines' birth control? I don't agree with abortion as well but I agree to President Aquino's point that the husband-and-wife should decide on matters like this. The only danger here is if the Roman Catholic church never taught its laity on the best possible decision that they will never regret. Abstention may be good but to stop short of telling them why is not progressive is in itself FAIL! Now, teaching faith that God will provide the kids' and parents' needs are best option to go. It's now up to the parents to decide for themselves what to do but yes, never abort a kid when it's conceived.

If you want to know my initial thoughts about this whole deal between the government and the Roman Catholic church when the news became big, read it here.

 

Photo Credits: Pope, President Aquino

 

By now, the government is bent in curbing the rising population that it believes contributes to the poverty of this nation. On the clergy side, it's the issue of abortion that they go against. So what can anybody do about this situation? 

I think the Roman Catholic church is missing the point in this matter. It is the duty of the government to impose laws that will help the state deal with economic issues. It may not be the proverbial silver bullet that will end poverty - the government knows that - but it will be doing something to give the choice directly in the hands of the laity. The church on the other hand has the golden opportunity to reveal the message of faith and grace to which the gospel clearly says about such problems we face as a society. The church is not doing enough, however, and this is causing much support to the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

So what if the church excommunicated the president? Would that change the scenario? It's one bullying tactic after another between the government and the Roman Catholic church and this does not solve anything. Read the whole article here about this story published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 30.

Nothing will justify what former policeman Rolando Mendoza did last night to make the public take his side but what is more troubling is how the police did their job. Obviously, the police did not do a stellar performance in saving more lives or avoiding bloodshed during the drama and this brings forth a lot of questions what should have or shouldn't have happened. This goes the same with the media coverage: Did the presence of media hampered the effectiveness of the police operation? We just don't know. I'm posting some of those questions below to open discussion and learn valuable lessons from this as a concerned citizen of this nation. This will educate us and give us a broader understanding about the unfortunate incident that took place last night.

On the policeman's dismissal - We all know the disgruntled police officer snapped after hearing he lost his job from the service courtesy of the investigation made by the Office of the Ombudsman:

1. Why wasn't the former policeman's motion for reconsideration heard?
2. How many more cases like this is happening or will happen because the authorities in justice are not doing their job?

Just before the shooting started - It started minutes after the police (with full media coverage) took the hostage taker's brother into custody

1. Who authorized the arrest of the brother of the hostage taker that potentially started the situation?
2. Did the police know that the tourist bus have a television monitor to know what was going on when they arrested the brother of the hostage taker?
3. Didn't they know that the media will swarm on the arrest of the hostage taker's brother?

On the assault - If you watched the live or taped coverage of the drama, you'll have the same questions

1. What were the SWAT doing smashing the windows instead of using night vision goggles to track down Mendoza inside the bus?
2. In smashing the windows why were the police lacking materials to perform their operation like having ladders to smash the windows?
3. Why did the SWAT team go inside the bus without night vision goggles or even a flash light?

Photo credit: Pat Roque/AP (bus) / smh.com.au/AP (rolando mendoza)