GORGY RULA
Matapos magbigay ng kanilang posisyon ang Directors Guild of the Philippines, Inc. (DGPI) at ang League of Filipino Actors (AKTOR), naglabas naman ng opisyal na pahayag ang Filipino Screenwriters Guild (FSG) kaugnay ng pinag-uusapang MTRCB Act.
Read: Directors Guild, tinutulan ang MTRCB Act: "NO TO CENSORSHIP!"
Read: AKTOR calls on Congress to "halt" MTRCB Act
Mariin din ang pagtutol ng FSG sa Senate Bill No. 2805 o "Act Strengthening The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and Appropriating Funds Therefore."
Para sa Screenwriters Guild, ang panukalang ito ay nagpapanggap na tagaprotekta sa mga manonood.
Ngunit ang tunay na layunin daw nito ay bigyan ang MTRCB ng mas malaking kapangyarihan upang sikilin ang likha ng mga manunulat.
Ayon sa Screenwriters Guild: “On the surface, this bill claims to ‘protect’ viewers. But what it really does is give the MTRCB more power to censor. More rules to strangle creativity. More control over which stories get told—and which get silenced.
“And who suffers? The storytellers. The rebels. The voices we need most.
"When writers are gagged, society is too. Culture dies a little every time a story is cut or banned.
“Lino Brocka said it clearly: ‘Ang sining ay hindi dapat nakahiwalay sa mga problema ng lipunan.’ Art doesn't live in a vacuum. It's messy, loud, and often uncomfortable.
“Sanitizing it is just censorship in disguise.
“Here's what lawmakers must face: Filipino screenwriters have long been the industry's worst-kept secret—underpaid, unprotected, and invisible.
“Flat fees. No royalties. No say in where their work ends up. It's like being told, ‘Thanks for the story—now disappear.’
“We say: Enough."
FSG: MTRCB ACT threatens to turn our screens into sanitized echo chambers
Inilista rin ng FSG ang ilang suhestiyon para sa mga mambabatas na gusto talagang tulungan ang industriya.
Saad nila: “If lawmakers want to truly help the industry, start here:
"1. Create an industry-led committee (with writers, producers, and government) to set a Minimum Script Fee Table. Fair pay is not charity—it's justice.
"2. Stop forced, unpaid copyright transfers. Writers should own their words.
"3. Make residuals and royalties mandatory. If a story keeps airing or streaming, the writer deserves to keep earning.
"4. Treat screenwriters as essential cultural workers. Give them a voice in policy that affects them.
“National Artist for Cinema Ricky Lee put it best: ‘Pag nawala ang boses ng manunulat, walang saysay ang kuwento.’ No writer's voice, no story that matters.
“Senate Bill No. 2805 threatens to turn our screens into sanitized echo chambers. Let's not let that happen.
“We need systems that empower writers, not silence them. Because when writers lose their voice, stories disappear. And when stories disappear, culture dies.”
Read: Lorna Tolentino, Janice de Belen, Joey Marquez: NO TO MTRCB ACT
JERRY OLEA
Nag-post ang aktor na si Chuckie Dreyfus ngayong Hunyo 6, 2025, Biyernes, sa Facebook kaugnay sa MTRCB Act.
Ayon kay Chuckie: “Ayoko na sana mag-post about this pero nakakainis talaga, eh.
“The MTRCB pushing to regulate streaming platforms? Seriously? That’s not even part of their mandate.
“Let’s be honest… this isn’t about ‘protecting viewers.’ It feels more like a move to control content they can’t (and shouldn’t) dictate.
“Streaming content is a global medium. It’s diverse, it’s evolving, and it shouldn’t be boxed in by outdated standards.
“And as artists, ang dami na ngang challenges in getting our work out there. Now we have to jump through even more hoops just to satisfy someone else’s idea of “morality”? Come on.
“We need room to create and grow.
“Art isn’t supposed to be safe. It’s supposed to be real. And for that, it needs freedom.”
Read: VMX actors, producers, MTRCB may reaksiyon sa MTRCB Act
NOEL FERRER
Habang mainit pa ang usapin tungkol sa MTRCB at ang batas ng pagpapalawig ng kanilang powers, binalikan ni MTRCB Chair Lala Sotto-Antonio ang kanyang nauna nang pahayag ukol dito.
Saad niya: “Truthfully, it’s impossible to regulate all these online curated content platform services. We cannot review and classify every material before it is exhibited on the screens.
“First, it is not within our mandate, it is not within our purview, and it is humanly impossible.
“There are only 31 board members, and there are thousands, even millions of materials to be reviewed if we will be reviewing online streaming. And the board is not capable of doing so.”
However, Sotto-Antonio said they are proposing to establish a feedback mechanism from the Online Curated Content (OCCs) to address concerns or complaints related to various materials on online platforms.
“I think it is of utmost importance for the MTRCB as a regulator, that we establish a strong feedback mechanism with a focal contact point from the OCCs.
“Then it is going to be easy for us to address the concerns and complaints from the general public, especially the parents who continue to be very bothered about the content their children are exposed to.
“But we need an assurance from the OCCs, from these providers, that they would provide us with responsiveness and accountability to their content.”
Read: MTRCB to regulate Netflix and streaming services?
MTRCB ACT OVER IMPEACHMENT ISSUE?
Ang take ko rito, sa dami ng dapat asikasuhin ng Senado, lalo na ang mandato nila sa Konstitusyon na impeachment, sana’y nagkaroon muna ng malawakang konsultasyon sa isyung ito, lalo sa stakeholders sa ating industriya.
In fairness, hindi hinihingi ng MTRCB ang ganito kabilis na pagpasa ng MTRCB Act dahil may proseso talaga.
Pero talaga ba, mga senador, uunahin ito kesa nakahain nang mandato ninyong maging Impeachment Court sa mga alegasyon kay Vice-President Sara Duterte?
Sabi nga ng kaibigan nating premyadong producer na si Alemberg Ang: “Sana, dala ng ingay mula sa iba't ibang sektor ng industriya, makinig na ang Senado.
“Kasi, sa pagkakaalam ko, kinunsulta naman nila ang Directors Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI), pero hindi naman daw pinakinggan ang mga ni-raise nilang concerns.”
Paano na nga ba, Senate of the Philippines?