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AS’ RECEIVED A\

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS, )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) SUL 2 5 29S)
First Regular Session ) DATE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez
House Bill No, 2735

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Presidential Decree No. 1986, which creates the Movie and the Television Review
and Classification Board (MTRCB), does not authorize the MTRCB to prescribe ratings for
violence in television programming and to promulgate rules for signals contai
specifications for blocking violent programming in apparatuses with such technical capability.
Neither does Republic Act No. 7925, also known as the Public Telecommunications Policy
Act of the Philippines, provide such measures for broadcast operations of public
communication entities.

On several occasions since 1975, the journal of the American Medical Association
has alerted the medical community to the adverse effects of televised violence on child
development, including an increase in the level of aggressive behavior among children who
view it. A report dated May 1993 of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation in the United
States, reveals that there is an irrefutable connection between the amount of violence
depicted in the television program watched by children and increased aggression among
them.

This bill prescribes television violence rating codes for children and prohibits violent
programming on television during certain hours. For those apparatuses equipped with
technical capability for blocking signals, the bill authorizes the MTRCB and the NTC to jointly
prescribed rules for transmission.

The approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

RUPUS B. Rt UEZ



EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez
House Bill No. 2735

AN ACT
LIMITING EXPOSURE OF CHILDREN TO VIOLENT PROGRAMMING ON TELEVISION
AND CABLE SYSTEMS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Children’s Media Protection
Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the state to protect the welfare of children
by limiting their exposure to violent programming on television and cable systems.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Act:
“able Operator - any person or group of persons who (a) provides cable service
‘over a cable system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest
in such cable system, or (b) who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any
arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system;

Cable System - any facility consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and
associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide
cable service which includes video programming and which is provided to multiple
subscribers within a community, but such terms does not include (a) a facility that serves
only to retransmit the television signals of 1 or more television broadcast stations; (b) a
facility that serves only subscribers in | or more multiple units dwelling under common
ownership, control management, unless such facility or facilities use any public right-of way,
(c) a facility of a common carrier, except to the extent such facility is used in the transmission
of video programming directly to subscribers; or (d) any facility of any electric utility used
solely for operating its electric utility system.

Programming - includes advertisement but does not include newscast, news
interviews, and news documentaries.

Public Telecommunications Entity - any person, firm, partnership or corporation,
government or private, engaged in the provision of telecommunications services to the public
for compensation.

SEC. 4. Establishment of Television Violence Rating Code. — The Movie and Television
Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) shall, jointly prescribe, in consultation with television broadcasters, cable
operators, concerned non-government organizations for children and interested individuals
from the private sector, rules for the transmission by television broadcast systems and cable
systems of signals containing specifications for blocking violent programming.

SEC. 5. Elimination of Violent Programming on Television During Certain Hours. The
MTRCB and the NTC shall, within 30 days from the effectivity of this Act, pass rules and
regulations prohibiting the broadcast on commercial television and public
telecommunications entities, including the broadcast by cable operators, from 6:00 a.m. to



10:00 p.m. inclusive, of programming that contains very violent scenes for children in
accordance with the rating code established pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

SEC. 6. Separability Clause. If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall
remain valid and subsisting.

SEC. 7. Repealing Clause. Any law, presidential decree, or issuance, executive order, letter
of instruction, administrative order, rule of regulation contrary to or inconsistent with, the
provisions of this Act, is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 8. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,