Press Release
December 20, 2007

CENSORS BOARD CRITICIZED FOR
BANNING 3 FILMS CRITICAL OF GLORIA

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today criticized the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for allowing itself to be an administration tool for political repression by banning three short films that portray the social and political situation in the country.

Pimentel said the MTRCB, under Chairperson Ma. Consoliza Laguardia, has gone overboard by giving an X-rating (meaning unfit for public exhibition) for the films "Mendiola," "A Day in the Life of Gloria Arroyo" and "Rights" - all made by independent filmmakers.

He said the MTRCB does not seem to hearken to history.

"In the past, Diosdado Macapagal as president, banned 'Iginuhit ng Tadhana', a political film, if ever there was one, that glorified the exploits of Ferdinand E. Marcos, who was challenging his reelection bid."

"The rest is history. That is from the political angle."

Pimentel said that from the legal angle, the MTRCB does not appear empowered to censor the content of films probably except for obscenity or extreme violence.

"If the MTRCB ruling is not challenged, then, it would follow that we are allowing a bureaucracy of the government to curtail the freedom of expression, that is guaranteed by the Constitution, on purely partisan considerations."

"Mendiola", a documentary produced by Sine Patriotiko, exposes police brutality against participants in protest rallies.

"A Day in the Life of Gloria Arroyo" produced by Southern Tagalog Exposure, is a satire on the Arroyo administration.

"Rights" focuses on the spate of extra-judicial killings, disappearances of political activists and other forms of human rights violations.

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