SHOWS

UPD Dept of BroadComm calls for MTRCB Chief Lala Sotto to resign

DT · Sep 7, 2023, 5:41 PM

FILE: The MTRCB head at the organization’s Monitoring and Inspection Unit. | photograph courtesy of Lala Sotto-Antonio.

The Department of Broadcast Communication of the University of the Philippines Diliman has condemned the actions of the Movie, Television, Review and Classification Board in light of its suspension of the noontime program "It's Showtime". In a strongly worded statement, the department said it wasn't about any particular show, but the questioning of MTRCB's relevance in present society as a whole.

Part of the statement reads:

"We…are appalled by the consistent failure of the MTRCB to be responsive to the times, as reflected by its unnecessary interventions …its pointlessness in today's media environment.

…a clear demonstration of the point about the agency's lack of wisdom and discernment.
The measure is regressive and only illustrates the board's proclivity for censorship and high-handedness.

We append our collective voices…for its [MTRCB's] abolition, or if at all, transformation into an information and media literacy agency, that advances critical, intelligent, liberating, and sensible media production and audienceship, much needed in this milieu of orchestrated ignorance and disinformation.

We also call for the resignation of MTCB Chair Diorella Maria "Lala" Sotto, whose pronouncements on national TV evidently compromised her position and objectivity as a public official."