Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo this morning responded to criticisms against DSWD Assistant Sec. for Special Concerns Dr. Lorraine Marie Badoy who came under fire for a sentence she wrote in a recent Facebook post. In said post, Asec. Badoy said that those in the EU should “watch child porn na lang kasi dyan naman kayo magaling.”

Sec. Taguiwalo said that the assistant secretary was being obviously sarcastic and under no circumstances was she advocating child pornography or making light of it as an important social problem that should be addressed.

“I feel that this issue has been twisted out of context and sensationalized. To what purpose, we do not know; but what is evident is that this is being blown out of proportion. Asec. Badoy has been with the DSWD for only two months, but in that time she has shown strong commitment to her job and more importantly she has proven her compassion for the poor. Only last month she was able to help raise almost P160,000 for sacadas who were exploited by Hacienda Luisita. There is no question about Asec. Badoy’s sincerity to serve, and it is unfair that her personal character is being questioned because of one sarcastic sentence she wrote in her own social networking page,” she said.

Sec. Taguiwalo, however, acknowledged the arguments of those who raised protests against Asec. Badoy’s post.

“We know that as government officials, we should be more circumspect and careful about what we post on social media. We always run the risk of being — deliberately or not, maliciously or not — misinterpreted. All of us in the DSWD executive committee and even our staff will take lessons from this incident,” she said.

“In the meantime, it is business as usual for all of us in our work to serve the poor and those in need, and this includes helping children who are victims of child abuse, sexual violence, and pornography,” she added.

Sec. Taguiwalo said that she has already communicated with Asec. Badoy on the matter and that there is no problem between them. She said that if there is one good thing to come out of this issue, it is the attention that is being called to the social problem of child porn and the need to put an end to it.

“Asec. Badoy loves children and cares about their welfare, so to even imply that she trivializes the issue is unfair and misleading. She is an outspoken critique of social injustice, and we have no doubt as to her stand against child pornography,” Sec. Taguiwalo concluded. ###