‘[W]e find it ironic that this bill, which gives mandate to the MTRCB to disapprove content that “glorify criminals or condone crimes” was pushed by a (former) actor who rose to popularity playing thugs on the big screen’
Last June 2, 2025, the Senate of the Philippines approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 2805 called the “MTRCB Act.” Sponsored by former action star Senator Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla, Senate Bill 2805 was “prepared and submitted jointly by the Committees on Public Information and Mass Media; Games and Amusement; Ways and Means; and Finance with Senators Poe, Gatchalian, Tolentino, Padilla, Lapid, Revilla Jr. and Villanuena thereof.”
According to the press release of the Senate, “the bill aims to update the charter of the MTRCB which was established on October 1985, and to address the growing use of streaming platforms. It also aims, to ensure the MTRCB’s authority will be able to meet the demands of the digital age.”
The mention of streaming platforms to be included in the scope of the MTRCB was what got people’s attention. That was the angle highlighted in press release of the Senate as it said, “Padilla stressed the need to regulate streaming platforms, noting that while some productions from Asian countries may align with Filipino culture, western-influenced content often requires careful consideration, especially when it comes to protecting young audiences.
“Under Section 3 (e) of the bill, ‘On-Demand Streaming Services’ refer to internet-based services that provide online curated content platforms from which users can stream or download videos for offline.”
As far as the streaming platforms are concerned, Section 7 of the bill, Obligations of On-Demand Streaming Services, would require them to register (with a fee) their streaming service with MTRCB, establish and provide informative descriptions, ensure that appropriate classifications and ratings are prominently displayed not only in the beginning of the series and films but in publicity materials, plus implement safety measures and feedback mechanisms among other imperatives.
There are several streaming platforms available in the Philippines. A search on the Internet yielded the following: Netflix, Viu, Amazon Prime Video, iWantTFC, Viu, iQIYI, Crunchyroll, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Lionsgate Play, YouTube Premium, HOOQ, Disney, VMX (formerly Vivamax).
Netflix has thousands of series and films in its library at any given time. According to figures on statistica.com, the Philippines’ Netflix library had 7,703 titles as of July 2024, making our country rank number 16 on the “Top Countries With the Most Content Available” on Netflix Worldwide.
Given this figure for just Netflix, to estimate the content in all the streaming platforms in the Philippines is dizzying, if not impossible to estimate.
Films and series shown on television and films shown in the cinemas are reviewed by MTRCB. The network and the film producer submits these to the agency for review with a corresponding fee, so that the agency could give it the proper classification, and if need be, propose cuts if any parts are deemed objectionable.
While the bill does not explicitly state that all content on streaming platforms must be reviewed, Section 6 (b), under Powers and Functions of Bill 2805 states, “For on-demand streaming services, the Board may, if necessary, require a reclassification after showing or streaming, upon the final decision of the Board.
At any rate, content on streaming platforms will be regulated and thus, review fees will be paid.
The MTRCB rates as of 2020 showed that review fees for films for cinema range from P 5,050 to P 11,867.50, and review fees for TV programs range from P 510 (30 minutes running time or less) to more that P 2,000 (90 minutes to 2 hours or more).
Should fees be paid for the review of streaming content, that is surely a lot of revenue in terms of review fees.
We will not attempt to discuss the implications of Senate Bill 2805 on the issues of freedom of creativity vis-a-vis censorship. What we are more interested in is its implementability on streaming platforms. The bill raises questions like: Who will pay for the review? The streaming platform or the producer? If a content must be reviewed or re-classified after it is shown on the platform, how will that be determined? Can the 30 reviewers of the MTRCB be able to manage to properly watch, review and assess all the TV shows and movies on streaming, free TV and cinemas?
On a more personal note, we find it ironic that this bill, which gives mandate to the MTRCB to disapprove content that “glorify criminals or condone crimes” was pushed by a (former) actor who rose to popularity playing thugs on the big screen.
