Grace under pressure

MANILA, Philippines—Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), has been swamped with meetings of late—as a direct result of the raging controversy surrounding the TV5 show “Willing Willie.”

GRACE Poe-Llamanzares ANDREW TADALAN

(Amid public outcry, the MTRCB is investigating the case of the 6-year-old boy who performed the body-wave dance—considered a “striptease” by some groups—on the game show.)

Even her mother, movie queen Susan Roces, has been dragged into the fray.

Some critics have pointed out that Llamanzares should inhibit herself from the issue because Roces currently top-bills a TV5 soap, “Babaeng Hampaslupa.”

“But the movies of my father (the late Action King Fernando Poe Jr.) are also being leased by ABS-CBN,” she told Inquirer Entertainment. “It’s really hard to find an industry person who hasn’t worked with the networks.”

In any case, she noted, “legally, there’s no reason to inhibit myself.”

Board rules

She explained that the board’s rules specifically “advise that 15 members should’ve been nominated by legitimate organizations from the movie and TV industries.”

More importantly, she stressed that she has no power to decide over the matter as she had already turned it over to the three-member adjudication committee. “My only duty is administrative… to implement the committee’s decision.”

She hopes that the issue will be resolved by the end of May or early June.

(She outlined the timeline for the case: April 19 is the day of the submission of position papers. Ten days later, April 29, both TV5 and the board will submit their replies to the position papers. If there is a need for a clarification meeting, that would only take a day, she said. From the submission of the replies, the decision should be released in 30 days.)

“Personally, I want a swift resolution, but we really have to be careful with regard to this issue especially because the board is a judicial-prosecuting body.”

Llamanzares doesn’t want the ratings board to be accused of “railroading the issue.”

“We consider it a benchmark case,” she said. “How the ratings board will decide on the controversy can set a precedent on future cases
—involving the participation and portrayal of children in movies and TV shows.”

Even before the “Willie” intrigue, Llamanzares had already suggested the mounting of an industry-wide summit to discuss pertinent issues—including children’s welfare vis-à-vis TV shows.

“When we had our first board meeting on March 8, we already discussed the drafting of a new ratings system,” she recalled. “We’re studying our IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations).”

Rating system

One of the proposals that can be discussed in the summit is the expansion of the present rating system governing TV. “As of now, we only have G (General) and PG (Parental Guidance),” she said. “In the United States, the ratings system for TV is very specific. They have TVF or TV-Fantasy, for example, to cover animated shows that have violent content.”

She asserted, however, that a new ratings system should consider geography and language. “It should be easily understood by the masses. It should be in the vernacular, to guide parents on their kids’ viewing fare. In Iloilo, it should be in Ilonggo. In Ilocos, in Ilocano.”

The summit, which will be composed of industry stakeholders, can look into the “possibility of the 10- or five-second delay for live shows” as well.

In light of the “Willie” controversy, the summit, set in June after the resolution of the case, will also formulate “specific guidelines for the portrayal and participation of children in movies and television.”