Movie and Television Review and Classification Board

"For intelligent and responsible viewing."

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The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, commonly abbreviated as MTRCB, is a Filipino regulatory body for audiovisual works such as films and television programs.

Background

The MTRCB was initially created as the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures by virtue of Republic Act 3060 signed by President Carlos P. Garcia in 1961, where it answered directly to the Office of the President. Dictator Ferdinand Marcos later expanded the scope of the organisation, to the point that it (unsurprisingly) was given the power to ban any and all films that were deemed by the Marcos regime to be "subversive". The sociopolitical turmoil of the 1980s forced the regime to reconstitute the Board to its current MTRCB incarnation, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1986, later replacing defense and military personnel with an all-civilian board, though the ban on "subversive" content remains.

Effects on art

While the MTRCB touts itself as an agency with the goal of encouraging "intelligent and responsible viewing", in practice it has become something of a de facto censorship bureau, banning films which the board (and by extension the government) deems as either too offensive, subversive or contrary to national interests.

During the late 1970s the MTRCB, as the Board of Censors, implemented a ban on the cult anime series Voltes V under Memorandum-Circular No. 13-79, ostensibly due to pressure from Catholic civil groups who were appalled by the show's wanton violence and its supposed effects on children. Popular speculation suggests that the ban was spurred by the anime's revolutionary undertones as it portrayed the toppling of a repressive dictatorship which was too close for Marcos's comfort; the anime's producers took inspiration from the French Revolution and did not intend to make any apparent allusions to then-current events. At any rate, the ban on giant robot anime only led to outrage from children who were dismayed by the decision. Some of those kids angered by the Voltes V ban went on to join the People Power Revolution in their late teens, which, ironically enough, toppled the real-life Bozanians Marcos regime with hardly any real-life violence ensuing; after all, it would be surreal to see those protesters slicing pro-government forces to death in an imitation of the giant mecha's finishing move. The ban on the series was since lifted, though there had been attempts to reinstate it such as in 1999 when congressman Mayo Almario filed a bill seeking to take the anime off the air and give the MTRCB the authority to remove programming deemed too violent for children.

Since then, the MTRCB's arbitrary and cranky rules became the bane of many a filmmaker in the country, and by extension international film studios looking to have their films screened in the Philippines. One Tumblr blog pointed out the utter incompetence the board exhibited with their poorly written classifications rendered in broken English, as well as the questionable verdicts they gave to certain films, such as in the 2015 romantic comedy Just the Way You Are where they slapped it with a dubiously low General Patronage (G) rating and praised it to the skies as a "VERY INSPIRING FILM", never mind the thinly veiled allusion to oral sex in one scene as the blog noted.

Speaking of ratings, some have questioned how family and children's films with some significantly questionable scenes and content such as those of the Harry Potter series and superhero movies such as The Avengers and Transformers are let off the hook and given General Patronage ratings despite them depicting imagery which may upset younger viewers, e.g. the 2017 Beauty and the Beast remake where the shift to live-action rendered the Beast and Gaston's final battle as well as the mob riot in a more visceral way than what the cel-animated original could muster. Paolo Barazon of CinemaBravo speculated that the board's lax treatment towards family-friendly Disney films was done out of financial gain. To put things to some perspective, Russia's censorship board imposed a harsh 16+ rating on Beauty and the Beast on the grounds of "gay propaganda" i.e. a blink-and-miss scene hinting of LeFou's gay romance yet the equally conservative MTRCB appears to have just glossed over the film on the basis of being a Disney feature.

The MTRCB also imposed bans on certain films deemed contrary to the country's national and geopolitical interests, particularly with the "nine-dash line" (conflicting territorial claims by different countries in the South China Sea). Among those banned for displaying the verboten map were the animated feature Abominable and the live-action theatrical adaptation of the popular Sony video game franchise Uncharted; the 2023 feminist comedy film Barbie was due to be banned for a map deemed too close for the authorities' comfort, but was also let off the hook when Warner Bros. agreed to have the questionable map edited. As with the Disney Princess movie example above, it could be that the MTRCB was reluctant to ban a family film on the grounds of national security and let that shit slide because it's a film about girls' toys yet they couldn't do the same request to have Abominable and Uncharted edited and cleared for exhibition. The 2023 action thriller Plane starring Gerard Butler was also pulled out of public exhibition in the country as both the MTRCB and local legislators objected to the film's depiction of southern Mindanao as a rebel-infested shithole; on the other hand, the Directors' Guild of the Philippines opposed the proposed ban, saying that it constitutes as censorship, and argued that the ban could set a precedent on the freedom of artistic expression of any depiction of the country. They also argued that the film was not a reliable commentary on the country's affairs, stating that Plane was just "mindless B-movie entertainment".

Also of note is the board's tendency to let the members' petty religious morality cloud their judgement, which isn't surprising considering the Philippines' predominantly Christian population, in spite of the country being de jure secular as enshrined in the 1987 Constitution with clauses guaranteeing freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Even films that tackle deep and serious issues such as the Holocaust epic Schindler's List were banned not because of the overarching themes and graphic violence (or alleged promotion of Zionism as in the case of Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia who banned the film on antisemitic grounds) but because of a few incidental nude scenes which the MTRCB deemed too raunchy for their tastes; the board unsuccessfully called for Stephen Spielberg to edit out the scenes in question. The ban was overturned in 1994 with the film's historical merits cited as a reason. The 1988 religious epic The Last Temptation of Christ (based on a 1955 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis) was also permanently banned by the board for perceived perversion of the life of Jesus Christ.

The 2004 religious slasher epic The Passion of the Christ garnered a reluctant yet questionable Parental Guidance (PG) rating and was even endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), who previously condemned the 2002 animated feature film The Powerpuff Girls Movie and labelled it as "disturbing", conveniently ignoring the graphic and disturbing imagery of Jesus getting maimed and crucified while deeming the arguably cartoonish violence of Powerpuff as a "saturation of violent acts carried out with a fierce vengeance." The film adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code also sparked controversy in the country owing to perceived anti-Catholic themes especially when the MTRCB gave it an R-18 rating despite calls from religious groups for a ban.

In 2024, the supernatural comedy-horror film Dear Satan which is about a young girl writing a letter supposedly to Santa Claus but ended up innocently misspelling the name and thus addressing it to Satan instead, went unreleased as the MTRCB vetoed its theatrical exhibition due to religious objections on part of the board particularly with chairman Lala Sotto – daughter of actor and politician Tito Sotto – who personally watched the film and stated that she was offended by its themes of Satan's redemption contrary to popular Christian belief that Big Red Lou is an irredeemable monster unworthy of praise, and that such portrayals are gravely dangerous to one's faith. The studio sought to appeal the decision by re-titling it as Dear Santa, but the board upheld its X rating, saying that the film’s positive depiction of Satan served as “an attack on fundamental belief of the Catholic and Christian faiths.” Groups such as the Director's Guild of the Philippines (DGPI) pointed out double standards on MTRCB's part when they singled out Dear Satan despite having previously approved the exhibition of other similarly-themed films about the Devil or demons – namely Hellboy, Lucifer and Little Nicky – without any perceived moral or religious implications or objections. The DGPI also called into question the board's X rating for the indie documentary Alipato at Muog (transl. Flying Embers and a Fortress) about forced disappearances of activists by suspected military personnel in 2007. The MTRCB insinuated that Alipato undermined "the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or duly-constituted authorities", but was later re-rated as R-16 after a formal appeal and protests by JL Burgos and various activists at the MTRCB office, who argued that their classifications of both Dear Satan and Alipato are an "evident overreach" of their mandate.

As far as television programmes are concerned, the MTRCB gained notoriety for its conservatism and swift enforcement of their censorious agenda, particularly its suspension of noontime variety shows for obscene content such as in Wil Time Bigtime where a young contestant was made to perform a lewd dance in front of a live audience, and It's Showtime where an errant guest host made a series of derogatory remarks towards schoolteachers. Showtime would later face another ban in 2023 when two of the show's main hosts, prominent gay comedian Vice Ganda and his life partner Ion Perez, made an on-screen gesture where they shared tufts of vanilla icing to each other in a July 25 episode of the "Isip Bata" segment. Some viewers saw conflict of interest with the MTRCB's suspension of Showtime even when rival programme Eat Bulaga! saw relatively fewer sanctions for its content, in spite of its principal hosts' less-than-wholesome remarks and wisecracks they made over the years at the expense of certain groups.

Calls for abolition?

As a result of these gaffes they made over the years and partly due to it being a holdover from the Marcos dictatorship, some have called for the MTRCB to be abolished and replaced with a self-regulatory body a la MPAA or ESRB, particularly from film-making guilds who are clearly sick and tired of their artistic freedom being stifled in the name of religious morality. Others opined that a more moderate approach should be done instead, i.e. reforming the Board to be more mindful of changing societal attitudes especially progressive voices in society who call for a more inclusive environment, while legislator Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte advocated for the board to be defunded, accusing the MTRCB of having an "imbecilic mindset", such as with their planned regulation of streaming platforms which would arguably set a nasty precedent amongst Filipino netizens; Villafuerte also pointed out how Filipinos would still have access to even worse content on social media and the broader web anyway.

See also

• Comics Code Authority — de facto censorship body for the comics industry
• National Legion of Decency — the US movie censorship board

External links

• Official website