Indecency on TV? Text 700-6228
By Lilita Balane, Newsbreak | 07/29/2009 11:05 PM
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MANILA - Television viewers can now report shows that depict excessive violence, sex, and foul language aired at a time when many children are watching.
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and Smart Communications to launch a system aimed at monitoring TV programs shown from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Concerned individuals, especially parents, can send their complaints through short messaging service, popularly know as “texting.” Their complaint will go directly to the database of the National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT), where 3 reviewers each from the DepEd, the Council for the Welfare of Children, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts sit in a panel.
Smart Communications consultant Miguel Donida said Smart subscribers can text using either of the following formats:
- BANTAYTV (space) NAME/AGE/ADDRESS/MESSAGE, then send to 700-6228;
- BANTAYTV (space) TV PROGRAM (space) DATE OF AIRING, then send to 700-6228.
The numbers 6228 represents the phone keys that correspond to the letters NCCT. All text messages sent to 700-6228 will be free of charge.
Viewers can also make their complaints known to the NTTC through the following means:
- Email – bantaytv@ncct ph.org
- Fax – 637-2306
- Calls – 637-2306
- Snail mail – Bantay TV, NCCT, DepEd Complex., Meralco Ave., Pasig City.
Viewers’ Power
Education Assistant Secretary and NCCT Officer-In-Charge Jonathan Malaya explained the process of reviewing the TV shows or advertisements being complained about.
- NCCT will course through the MTRCB a request to TV stations for a tape of the show or advertisement.
- NCCT will evaluate whether the show or ad violated Republic Act 8370 (The Children’s Television Act of 1997), which provides that TV programs should not include “gratuitously sense of violence and sex.”
- NCCT will submit a report, with findings and recommendations, to the MTRCB, the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), or the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA).
- NCCT will inform the complainant of the action that the 3 organizations decide to take.
“These agencies [or organizations] will decide what will be the appropriate action based on their implementing rules and regulations,” Malaya said at the launching of Bantay TV
He said sanctions for violators range from fines, suspension, to banning of the show or ad. The KBP can expel a TV station from the organization.
“The power to initiate change should come from the “market”—not a market that passively laps up unhealthy and distributing programs that assault young, sensitive minds…. What we want is a market that expects and demands social responsibility from television programmers and advertisers, a market that is vigilant and proactive in the Bantay TV campaign,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said.
Reduce by 20%
Malaya said the objective of the program is to reduce by at least 20% the incidence of vulgarity, discrimination, sex, and violence on television in its six months of implementation.
A 2001 study of the Philippine Children’s Television Foundation (PCTVF) showed that 50% or 364 of the 728 local television shows evaluated contain violence, with an average of six violent incidents per hour or 1 every 10 minutes.
Another study titled “Impact of TV Violence on Children” authored by Caroline de Leon of Miriam College said that children from Metro Manila spend an average of 3 hours a day watching TV, which means that children watch 18 violent incidents on TV every day.
From a 2008 study of Nielsen’s Media Index for Kids and Teens, the top leisure activity of kids 7to 12 years old is watching TV. The top two program types they usually watch are cartoon or animations and action or martial arts. Nielsen Philippines executive director Jay Bautista said that many of the children form their dreams and role models—what they want to be or who they look up to—from the characters they see on TV.
The PCTVF’s study also revealed that 50% of violent programs occur from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., a time when many of the children 2 to 12 years old are watching.
Calling on Globe, Sun
“We observe that people have no avenue to report. Everybody is saying they don’t like this particular show because it is violent, but they can’t do anything about it,” Malaya said.
Meanwhile, MTRCB chairperson Consoliza La Guardia said that as they support the DepEd’s campaign, the media-regulating body is also in the process of revising their implementing rules and regulations to strictly monitor violence in TV shows.
While only Smart users can send complaints via SMS, Malaya said they plan to talk to Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular to join their advocacy. - By Lilita Balane, Newsbreak
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