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The Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) wishes to clarify that the organization is not pressuring advertisers to pull out their placements from "Willing Willie."
In a phone interview with Yahoo! OMG! Philippines on Thursday, April 7, PANA Executive Director Digna Santos explained the association could not dictate its members on what action to take.
"It's really up to them...to decide whether they will continue or they will pull out because you have to understand each company has its own business objective. Kanya-kanyang corporate values yan eh. It should be the individual company, maybe with the help of their media agencies to evaluate the situation and form a conclusion if it will be best for me to pull out or continue," Santos said.
PANA received a letter from blogger Froilan Grate urging government agencies and advertisers to take action against the show "Willing Willie" for its alleged "abuse" on six-year-old Jan-Jan Suan, who was made to perform a sexually suggestive dance during the March 12 episode of the program.
Santos said PANA forwarded Grate's letter to all its members through an advisory.
"Ang request nila was for us to share to our members their complaints and if possible nga ask advertisers to temporarily stop placing ads in the program. And since it is our duty to our members to keep them informed of such possible issue, then we forwarded the letter to our members so they will be informed but it's really up to them. Ang sinasabi namin so they can be guided," Santos stressed.
Santos added PANA would not take further action beyond sending advisories and updates.
"I cannot follow up (on the course of action of the) advertisers (of "Willing Willie"). No because it might be misunderstood by some people that we are putting extra pressure on advertisers to pull out. There's already pressure from consumers (and that's) pressure enough. So if I call them and say 'ano ba mag pu-pull out ba kayo o hindi', unang-una makakadagdag pressure sa kanila, or baka isipin nila I'm calling for a boycott or pull out. The most that I can do now is kung may pinadala sa aking [updates] wala akong magagawa kundi i-forward lang sa kanila and ask if this is true or not. But without that hindi ko pwedeng i-follow-up sa kanila baka sabihing naprepressure sila sa akin," said Santos.
Blue chip firms Jollibee Foods Corporation, Del Monte Philippines, and Procter and Gamble Philippines have withdrawn their advertisements from the show.
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