Film community reacts to Senate bill expanding MTRCB’s powers

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) said that they will “implement” whatever is “approved by Congress and the President” over the Senate approval on the third nd final reading of Senate Bill No. 2805 or the MTRCB Act.

Sen. Robinhood Padilla, who chairs the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, sponsored the bill which “would strengthen and expand the mandate of the MTRCB by including streaming platforms in its regulatory powers.”

He expressed gratitude to his fellow senators who supported the bill, which would “further protect viewers, particularly youth, while ensuring creative expression in the fields of television and film.”

MTRCB chairperson and chief executive officer Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio said in a statement that the agency will “respectfully defer to the wisdom of our lawmakers on the matter.”

The MTRCB, however, noted that the House of Representatives has yet to pass its version of the bill. “So, it may continue into the next Congress where it will be subjected to deliberations and further discussions. The amendments seek to establish appropriate mechanisms for cooperation with online streaming platforms and online curated content providers (OCCs) and streaming videos on-demand (SVOD). These include the adoption of safeguards such as ‘safety by design’ principles and the creation of structured feedback mechanisms and accountability.”

The MTRCB stressed that “while the amendments include OCCS and SVODs in the coverage of MTRCB, the Board does not seek to rate or review these materials.”

“Rather, the measure seeks to ensure that the State is not left helpless in addressing valid concerns and issues such as harmful online contents, particularly materials involving child abuse, exploitation, or voyeurism.”

The MTRCB, nevertheless, emphasized that the protection of children is their utmost priority. “In the end, it is our collective hope that any amendment should be firmly anchored on the principle that the protection of children is a top priority.”

The Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Inc. (DGPI) is ‘strongly opposing’ the Senate Bill No. 2805 or the MTRCB Act.

DGPI opposes bill

Several members of the film community have reacted on the matter, with the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Inc. (DGPI) “strongly opposing” the bill.

“In its Declaration of Policy, the proposed law deletes the current law’s intentions for self-regulation of the film/TV industries and converts the MTRCB into a parens patriae (parent of the country), concentrating instead on its self-anointed role as guardian of public morals — a narrow reading of the State’s protective function as it serves only those who find it convenient to yield their parental guardian duties to the MTRCB,” the DGPI explained in a statement.

The DGPI instead leans on “the broader interest of those who prefer to do parental duties by themselves, and rely on the MTRCB only for guidance through a genuine classification system (without censorship power) to facilitate these duties, possible only in a climate of free expression and free access to expression.”

“While the bill attempts to frame the MTRCB as a protector of children, its provisions unmask its real mission: the unbridled control of Filipino hearts and minds through censorship of material not only for minors but more harmfully for adults, whose freedoms are protected by our Constitution (Article III, Section 4) and by the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19),” the DGPI added.

The act also “impinges on a struggling local film industry” and “would further destroy content creators’ rights to free expression and viewers’ rights to free access to expression,” the DGPI stated.

The organization reiterated that it “stands against expansion of MTRCB’s jurisdiction into the online streaming space because it is largely a private viewing experience, and does not count as public exhibition, and deplores this attempt by the MTRCB to discriminate against those in the audio-visual sector that encompasses film, television, and streaming.”

“No to censorship, state control of hearts and minds, discrimination, use of the MTRCB as cash cow, and the MTRCB’s incursion into streaming,” their strongly worded statement ended.

Screenwriter and director Chris Martinez, on the other hand, likened the bill to “dragging us back to the dark ages of media control.” He cited Sen. Risa Hontiveros for her “actual common sense” and for “calling out this absurd power grab over our right to watch stuff without being babysat or lectured.”

Hontiveros voted against SB No. 2805.

“In this age of global streaming and content creation, it’s pretty obvious the MTRCB is desperate to prove they are still relevant. What’s next? Putting an X rating on a TikTok filter for being too suggestive?” Martinez said.

While acknowledging the importance of protecting viewers, especially minors, from inappropriate content, MAVX producer Erwin Blanco, pointed out that “regulating streaming platforms should be approached with great care and balance.”

Citing that the “local film industry is still struggling to recover,” Blanco said that this is not the best time to push for the regulation.

“Independent filmmakers and producers are working hard to find sustainable ways to create and distribute content in an already challenging environment,” he continued and added that the focus should shift to offering assistance to filmmakers through funding, distribution opportunities, education and collaboration in order to create a thriving and sustainable creative industry.

MTRCB calls out DGPI

The MTRCB in response slammed the DGPI for its “irresponsible claim that the agency is being used as a cash cow.”

“To describe our mandate as profit-driven is both misleading and disrespectful to the 31 board members, many of whom the DGPI knows and may have worked with in the past. The remark disrespects the dedicated men and women of the MTRCB who have devoted their careers to monitoring, reviewing and rating thousands of local and international materials to ensure they align with contemporary Filipino cultural values,” part of the media statement said.

“The MTRCB is a regulatory body created by law to classify content in a way that protects the viewing public, especially minors, while recognizing constitutional freedoms and respecting the rights of the public and the stakeholders we are duty bound to serve.”

They reiterated that while Senate Bill No. 2805 was recently passed on third and final reading in the Senate, its counterpart measure in the House of Representatives has yet to be passed, presenting “ample opportunity for further scrutiny, refinement, and consultation.”

“We appeal to all stakeholders to approach this matter with reason and respect. We expect no less than civility from entities like the DGPI, which is not a government agency, especially in public discourse,” the statement said.