Movie and Television Review and Classification Board

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
Lupon sa Pagrerepaso at Pag-uuri ng Sine at Telebisyon
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Government of the Philippines
Employees	At least 33
Agency executive	Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Chairwoman
Website
MTRCB official site

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (Filipino: Lupon sa Pagrerepaso at Pag-uuri ng Sine at Telebisyon; abbreviated MTRCB) is the government agency responsible for rating television and film for the Philippines. Recently, the MTRCB was given the additional task of rating various video media (VHS, VCDs, DVDs, etc.). It is under the executive powers of the Office of the President. The MTRCB is composed of the chairman, vice-chairman and 30 board members. Each one holds office for a term of one year but may be reappointed after the expiration of his/her term. The incumbent chairman of MTRCB is Chairman Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, daughter of Fernando Poe, Jr. and Susan Roces.

Differences with other organizations

Unlike other organizations worldwide, such as the BBFC, the MTRCB does not rate video games. This is due to the fact that the Philippines does not produce video games (other than titles from studios such as Anino Games), since most video games are imported, with almost all of it coming from the United States. Because of that, ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board are seen as the de facto standard for video game ratings in the Philippines, but legal restrictions (such as prohibition of sales of M-Rated games to minors) usually do not apply, although certain software vendors ask for an ID or any other valid age verification when selling titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV and other mature-rated games. The MTRCB also does not rate literature, unlike some other organizations.

The MTRCB is also known to rate films differently from other organizations, examples of which are the Harry Potter film series, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Batman Begins, Spider-Man, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and more recently, Shake, Rattle & Roll XI, which, despite the graphic and potentially disturbing content depicted in the films, were given a rating of G (all ages accepted), despite other countries who imposed a PG-13 rating, and The Da Vinci Code, which received a R-18 rating, while other countries gave it lower ratings.

Ratings

Motion picture

These are Movie Rating,there are 5 different ratings the board utilizes. These are:

Level	Classification rating	Description
Unrestricted	G	All ages admitted.
	PG-13	Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.
Restricted	R-13	Strictly for persons 13 years and over.
	R-18	Strictly for persons 18 years and over.
	X	Not for public viewing.
Discontinued	R	Strictly for persons 17 years old and over.
	PG-7	Children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

However, on this set, there are no pictogram intended for each rating.

Television

The MTRCB has implemented a television content rating system way back since November 1995^{[citation needed]}. Historically, there were only two television ratings used.

Pictogram	Classification rating
None	General Patronage
Only plain text	Parental Guidance

However, on October 6, 2011, in order to encourage parents to supervise and be responsible with their children in watching television, one additional television rating was added, increasing the latter to three. These are:

Pictogram	Classification rating	English name	Filipino name	Description
	G	General Patronage	None	Suitable for all audiences. May apply to most children's programming, although informational, religious, how-to, or otherwise generally inoffensive content usually fall into this category.
	PG	Parental Guidance	Patnubay at Gabay	Programmes rated PG may contain scenes or other content that are unsuitable for children without the guidance of a parent. Programmes that are broadcasted live, i.e. variety and game shows such as It's Showtime, are typically rated PG for their suggestive dialogue or humor.
	SPG	Strong Parental Guidance	Striktong Patnubay at Gabay	Contains mature themes or moderate to intense violence, which may be deemed unfit for children to watch without strict parental supervision. Programmes such as those by 24 or Cold Case are usually rated SPG for violent content.

The old graphic that was implemented from November 1995^{[citation needed]} to October 5, 2011 consists of a static Parental Guidance (or PG) digital on-screen graphic (DOG) or text that appeared at the upper left or at the bottom right of the screen during a program if it was rated as such. If there is no graphic, it is understood that a show is rated General Patronage (or GP).

The new ratings were supposed to be composed of G, PG, SPG, and M, but sometime before the implementation of the new system, the set was revised into today's ratings.

The new ratings system is similar to the old one, but the look and the ratings itself was completely revamped. The new system consists a new full-screen advisory of the program's rating and is shown strictly before a program, whatever the rating of such program is. A DOG then appears at the bottom right of the screen during a program if it was rated as such. For rated SPG, it also indicates any content descriptors, i.e. violence, sex or language, that may apply to the programme.

The full screen advisory is regularly aired before the program, unlike in the case of the SPG rating: the rating must be aired after every commercial break.

On February 9, 2012, the SPG rating has been implemented, which utilizes at least one of the following content descriptors: T for tema (themes), L for lengguwahe (language), K for karahasan (violence), S for sekswal (sex), H for katatakutan (horror) and D for droga (drugs). The rating was first broadcast on the film Cinco which was aired in ABS-CBN, where it had its old advisory.

Adoptions

Not all television networks in the Philippines adopted the new rating system before the given deadline (see below):

• ABS-CBN 2, Studio 23 and PTV 4 on October 6.
• UNTV 37 on October 7.
• GMA-7 and GMA News TV Channel 11 on October 10.
• TV5, AksyonTV 41, IBC-13 and its sports block AKTV on October 11.
• Net 25 on October 12.
• Light TV 33 on October 14.
• RPN 9 (ETC), RJTV 29 (2nd Avenue), and SBN 21 (Talk TV) on October 26 respectively.
• BEAM 31 (The Game Channel) on October 30 & (Chase) on December 24.
• SMNI 39 on January 26, 2012.

The board gave a deadline of until October 31 for the other national, local, cable, and satellite television networks to switch onto the new graphic.

But, two networks namely the Gateway UHF Broadcasting (which carries the international feed of 3ABN) and Gem TV still did not adopt the system. The Iglesia ni Cristo programs on Net 25 and GEM TV are the only religious programs without the rating graphics; the rest (e.g. Ang Dating Daan, Jesus the Healer of Jesus Is Lord Church and Family Rosary Crusade) added the green 'G' graphic on their programs.

myx, a cable television network affiliated with ABS-CBN, originally adopted the blue PG graphic on October 6 on a majority of their programs, but reverted back to the static 'Parental Guidance' graphic only two weeks after, only in showing music videos with graphic content. This was due to the fact that it may be hard to place the blue 'PG' graphic while a music video is played along with the lyrics being shown at the same time. The ABS-CBN News Channel also added the blue 'PG' graphic at the same time as its mother network, but is only applied to its public affairs programs which also air on ABS-CBN. Among local cable networks, only Balls, Knowledge Channel, Hero TV, Solar Sports and Jack TV continue to adopt the old static 'Parental Guidance' graphic on their programs. And also after The Game Channel leased the blocktime broadcast of BEAM Channel 31, it still continued to use the MTRCB TV ratings even tough they're operating in a cable network now.

All programmes shown by the television channels are reviewed and classified by the said board. The board may suspend or cancel programmes, but not to remove broadcast licenses. Only news programs are exempt from ratings, but informational and public affairs programmes do.

Use of the X rating

A movie shall be disapproved for public viewing if, in the judgment of the board:

• The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the dominant theme of the work as a whole appeals to prurient interest and satisfies only the craving for gratuitous sex and/or violence.
• The work depicts in a patently lewd, offensive, or demeaning manner, excretory functions and sexual conduct such as sexual intercourse, masturbation and exhibition of the genitals.
• The work clearly constitutes an attack against any race, creed or religion.
• The work condones or encourages the use of illegal drugs and substances.
• The work tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or duly constituted authorities.
• The work glorifies criminals or condones crimes.
• The work is libelous or defamatory to the good name and reputation of any person, whether living or dead.

A movie or television program that receives an X rating may not be shown in Philippine theaters or television, or in any form of public exhibition.

A much publicized use of the X rating by the MTRCB was the issuance of such rating to a documentary film portraying the life of former Philippine president Joseph Estrada in 2006. Certain portions of the film, especially the portions with regard to the 2001 EDSA Revolution, were deemed by the MTRCB to be inciting political rebellion, a charge denied by the producers of the documentary.

Suspension of other shows

Local content

Not only does MTRCB rates shows and films, they can also suspend a certain show for a few days to a few months depending on the violation. The following are the notable, scandalous events that earned shows a suspension.

• The Eda Nolan scandal on Wowowee, which happened on May 12, 2007, earned the show a 3-day suspension.
• The controversial suspension of a documentary program i-Witness after showing a unique ritual dance from Laguna "The Lukayo"
• The month-long suspension of Showtime due to a inappropriate comment of one of its judge to the Filipino teachers.
• Willing Willie received a month-long suspension after a child named Jan-Jan danced while crying in front of the audience and live on television.

International content

• The TV-channel TVE Internacional's broadcast was suspended by the MTRCB because of sexual content. It was only unclear if the broadcast had been stopped only by SkyCable or all of the cable companies nationwide.
• The HBO mini-series Entourage was blocked for 3 weeks on SkyCable because it has not yet been reviewed by the MTRCB. But on other cable operators, the series was broadcast without any interruption.

Radio

The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP; English: Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines), an association unrelated to the government, governs censorship on radio, although it can only reprimand its own members. A network currently not a member of the KBP is GMA Network, who is a former member.

Home video

The Optical Media Board formerly governed censorship on it, but MTRCB taken the authority of the home videos.

See also

• Television content rating systems
• Motion picture rating system
• Politics of the Philippines

External links

• Official website of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
• Official website of the Optical Media Board
• Official website of the Association of the Philippine Broadcasters