Students, teachers join MTRCB forum in Masbate, Zamboanga City

Some 500 students, school administrators and faculty members in Masbate City attended the “Matalinong Panonood Para sa Pamilya nina Juan at Juana” forum organized recently by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), chair Eugenio “Toto” Villareal reported.

“We were pleased to have touched base with the youth there. The attendees, mostly college students, turned up with their families. We were able to make them understand the importance of having a ratings board and of following its regulations,” Villareal told the Inquirer.

Among the highlights of the three-day event held in April at Masbate Colleges was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the MTRCB and cable industry stakeholders in the province.

Big step

“This is a big step in our efforts to create measures that will enable cable operators to effectively monitor their own content,” Villareal pointed out.

The MTRCB conducted a media literacy seminar for media practitioners. After the forum, a seminar and an oath-taking ceremony with the new Local Regulatory Council (LRC) members were held at the Legacy Suites Hotel in the city.

Under the government’s good governance program, Villareal said, the MTRCB hopes to “reach out to more people at the grassroots level.”

Villareal led the team, composed of board members Bobby Andrews, Manny Buising, Cheche Francia-Conrado, Jackie Aquino-Gavino, Maloli Espinosa-Supnet, Joey Romero, Tony Veloso and Krip Yuson.

Legal perspective

The MTRCB chief also recently delivered a “Matalinong Panonood” lecture in Zamboanga City attended by respected legal professionals in the region.

The lecture was organized by the University of the Philippines Law Center and the local chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

Villareal discussed “media and the legal profession and their impact on the dynamics of audience sensitivity.”

The MTRCB chief likewise discussed the unique relationship between lawyers and the media, and then stressed that interest in justice and truth should be shared by both groups.

He gave the participants advice in formulating media policies for lawyers, especially while handling controversial cases.

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