Nagpahayag ng pagtutol Cannes-winning director na si Brillante "Dante" Mendoza sa panukalang batas na bigyan ng kapangyarihan ang Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) na masaklawan ang mga panoorin sa streaming platforms.
Bukas, February 23, 2023, pag-uusapan sa Senado, sa pangunguna ni Senator Robinhood Padilla, ang chairman ng Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.
Read: Senado, magsasagawa ng pagdinig para sa panukalang saklawin ng MTRCB ang streaming platforms
Tahasang sinabi ni Mendoza na hindi ito pabor na bigyan ng permiso ang MTRCB na kontrolin at bigyan ng klasipikasyon ang mga pelikula na kanyang ginagawa at ipinapalabas sa mga streaming platform.
Inihayag ni Mendoza ang saloobin sa pamamagitan ng isang pahayag at paliwanag tungkol sa kanyang paniniwala.
Ayon sa acclaimed director: “We have laws and those in the film industry respect them and comply. There will be a Senate discussion regarding MTRCB having jurisdiction over films in Philippine streaming platforms.
“As an artist, I say that I am not in favor of the MTRCB being permitted to control, censor and classify our works; censorship already connotes suppression of expression — in a democratic country.
“Certainly, there is clamor from various groups, to limit and ban scenes and films that may be offensive to them; but in my point of view, if these will be imposed, people will only stop watching local films on Philippine streaming platforms and shift to different platforms, foreign or illegal.
“I think, the issue being brought to the Senate will have a negative impact on many artists.
“There are only a limited number of producers willing to fund creative pursuits; earning through films is already difficult, and the recent MMFF is enough proof that most viewers still have not returned to the theaters. Many Filipinos have shifted to streaming.
“For decades, we must admit that very few laws have been created that benefited artists; now that the Internet has given a new avenue for creative works, some people still want to control and interfere with that too.
“I say too, that artists who became lawmakers should do something to protect the very industry that helped put them in that position, not use that power to control it.
“We bow to the laws, yes, but we wish that more energy had been spent on creating laws that benefit artists instead of seeing actions taken that seem to prioritize suppressing and censoring our works.”