20 Oct – Philippines’ Court of Appeal has released an order for TV host Willie Revillame to be arrested over charges of child abuse and child exploitation, as reported on PEP News.

A case was filed against Revillame back in 2011, after he made a 6-year-old boy mimic a male stripper’s dance during an episode of his now defunct show, “Willing Willie”, on TV 5 back in March the same year.

In the episode, the TV personality asked the boy to copy the dance moves before giving him PHP10,000 (approximately USD217). He even mimicked the boy’s moves at one point, while previous reports stated that the boy appeared to be crying while performing.

In May 2013, Revillames was formally charged with violating Republic Act 7610, otherwise known as the Anti-Child Abuse Law.

In an 11-page decision issued by Associate Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla recently, it was stated that the Quezon City Regional Trial Court did the right thing by issuing the order.

It also stated that the case had been long delayed because the petitioner refused to submit to the trial court’s jurisdiction and “erroneous invocation of the rules in his favour”.

In a motion of reconsideration back in 2013, Revillame argued that he didn’t have any intention to violate the law. He had also apologised for the segment, “which viewers”, he said, “may have found offensive or in bad taste”.