Solon wants to stop violent and obscene television programs

17 May 2011 03:41:25 PM

Writer: Jazmin S. Camero, MRS-PRIB
Violent and obscene scenes in television shows will soon be regulated and will be allowed to air only
after 10 in the evening.

House Bill 3671, authored principally by Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City) to be known
as "Children's Media Protection Act," shall establish a television violence and non-educational sexual
themes rating code.

"The existing laws lack the required provisions to block violent and sexually themed non-educational
programming to protect the welfare of children," Castelo said.

Castelo said the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), is not authorized to
prescribe ratings for violence and non-educational sexual themes in television programming and rules for
signals containing specifications for blocking violent and sexually themed non-educational programming.

Even Republic Act 7925 (Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines), which gives
authority to the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) for broadcast operations of public
communications entities, does not specify such an authorization for the Commission, Castelo said.

Castelo cited a report of the American Medical Association showing the adverse effects of televised
violence on child development and a marked increase in the level of aggressive behavior among children
who view violence on television.

"In a May 1999 a report of the Hany Frank Guggenheim Foundation in the United States found that there
is an irrefutable connection between the amount of violence depicted in the television programs watched
by children and increased aggression among them," Castelo said.

The measure requires the MTRCB and NTC to pass rules and regulations prohibiting the broadcast from
6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on commercial television and public telecommunications entities, including
broadcast by cable operators, of programming that contains violent and obscene scenes for children in
accordance with the established rating code.

The bill also mandates the MTRCB and NTC to jointly prescribe in consultation with the television
broadcasters, cable operators, concerned non-government organizations for children, and interest
individuals from the private sector, rules for rating the level of violence and non-educational sexual
themes in television programming.