(From left) Diorella “Lala” Sotto-Antonio, “It’s Showtime” cast. Images: FILE PHOTOS
A broad coalition of evangelical churches in the Philippines has expressed its “high respect” and “full support” to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for suspending “It’s Showtime.”
The Christian Coalition Movement (CCM), through its CEO Bishop Vincent Vicencio, said MTRCB’s sanctions is a practice of “sound discretion and observation of the law,” stressing that the ABS-CBN noontime show cannot “shield their infractions under the guise of freedom of speech.”
“The Nation is now reeling from huge economic problems and public issues, such as rising food prices, daily traffic congestion, drug addiction, street violence, child abuse, teenage crimes, and even real threats to the security of our islands and seas, among others. To see indecent, immoral, and unwholesome shows on live television add up to the woes and concerns of our Filipino families,” reads CCM’s statement posted on MTRCB’s Facebook page on Monday.
“The producers and hosts of ‘It’s Showtime’ cannot shield their infractions under the guise of freedom of speech. In this jurisdiction, it is settled that freedom of speech is not absolute and the burden of overthrowing the presumption of invalidity rests on the one restraining or censoring the same in accordance with the applicable law,” it also says.
CCM also lauded MTRCB chairperson Diorella “Lala” Sotto-Antonio’s decision, “recusing herself” from voting on “It’s Showtime’s” suspension. CCM said Sotto’s move is an “act of delikadeza [and] prudence” in order to “avoid conflict of interest.”
Sotto-Antonio is a daughter of former senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, a mainstay host of competing noontime show “EAT.”
“In this time and age, we need more public officials like Chairperson Lala Sotto to be a model of probity, independence, and prudence and to head our government agencies in the discharge of its Constitutional and lawful mandates,” CCM said.
The group, which threw its support for Tito Sotto’s vice presidential bid in the May 2022 polls, likewise defended the MTRCB head against calls for her resignation.
READ: Coalition of evangelical churches supports ‘righteous man of God’ Sotto’s vice presidential bid
It said there is no “factual or legal basis” to ask for Sotto-Antonio’s resignation since the MTRCB acted merely as a “consensus” of the law.
On September 6, the Department of Broadcast Communication of the University of the Philippines sought the MTCRB chief’s suspension after the agency decided to penalize “It’s Showtime.”
The MTRCB suspended “It’s Showtime” for 12 airing days, citing multiple complaints over alleged “indecent acts” of hosts Vice Ganda and Ion Perez.
ABS-CBN has since filed a motion for reconsideration but the MTRCB has yet to issue a final verdict as of this writing.
In a follow-up statement, the MTRCB clarified that Sotto-Antonio inhibited from voting on the noontime show’s suspension. Sotto-Antonio asserted in a subsequent statement there was “no unfair treatment” of the case against “It’s Showtime.”