MTRCB hands off on Rody’s cussing on TV

MANILA, Philippines – The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has adopted a hands-off policy on president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s cussing over live television and other unedited news.

In a public advisory on live TV news coverage, MTRCB chairman Eugenio Villareal said the agency’s jurisdiction does not include live media briefings or press conferences and straight news reporting.

According to him, the straight presentation of events or straight news reporting, like media briefings and the recent evening media conferences of the incoming president, is not under the MTRCB mandate.

He cited Section 7 of Presidential Decree 1986, which, he said, is intended “to give premium to the right to free speech and expression, and freedom of the press as well as the public right to information.”

“The public is entitled to know not only what is happening, but also how much public servants care for them,” Villareal said.

As a matter of policy, he added, the MTRCB respected and supported the right, as well as duty of television networks to self-regulate especially in straight news reporting.