Netflix appeals MTRCB order on episode pullout

MANILA, Philippines — Netflix has filed a motion for reconsideration on the move to regulate materials for its streaming services, after episodes were pulled out of a series over issues of sovereignty, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) said.

Netflix has removed two episodes of “Pine Gap” from the Philippines after the streaming service was accused of showing a map with China’s invalid claims to the South China Sea.

In an interview on The Chiefs on Wednesday, MTRCB executive director Jose Benjamin Benaldo said board members have began discussing the issue regulating streaming services.

“Netflix filed a motion for reconsideration. I can’t discuss thoroughly on the issue of Netflix on the principle of sub judice. You all know that I can’t discuss that because there’s a motion for reconsideration,” Benaldo said.

When asked if the pull out of political drama “Pine Gap” episodes might set a precedent arising from a complaint of a government agency, he said the national government does not persuade the MTRCB on actions it would take.

“The national government – they actually don’t say much. It was not the Office of the President who filed the complaint but the DFA,” he said, referring to the Department of Foreign Affairs which has lodged diplomatic protests against China.

Episodes two and three of the show were tagged “This episode removed by government demand.” It was not clear when they were pulled out.

Benaldo confirmed efforts to regulate Netflix continue.

“Yes but Netflix is so huge and not just Netflx. If you’re saying we’d like to regulate 100 percent we don’t have that capacity po and I will explain further when the motion for reconsideration would be resolved,” he said.

The official explained that MTRCB relies on its deputies and complaints from concerned citizens.

The DFA on Monday said that the MTRCB handed down its decision to pull out the episodes of Netflix’s political drama “Pine Gap” for showing a map of China’s nine-dash line and violating Philippine sovereignty.

The MTRB decided on Sept. 28, 2021 on a complaint lodged by the DFA.

“After a thorough review, the Board ruled that certain episodes of Pine Gap are ‘unfit for public exhibition.’ The MTRCB also ordered the immediate pullout of relevant episodes by its provider, Netflix Inc, from its video streaming platform,” the DFA said in a statement.

In its decision, the MTRCB underscored that “under a whole-of-nation approach, every instrumentality of the government, whenever presented with the opportunity, has the responsibility to counter China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea to assert the Philippines’ territorial integrity.”

“And we’re very happy Netflix has done that. This is another victory for our country,” Benaldo said.

The government of the late former president Benigno Aquino III challenged China’s excessive and expansive claims in the South China Sea before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It was the first time a nation challenged China over its maritime sovereignty.

On July 12, 2016, the court ruled in the Philippines’ favor, declaring its sovereign rights to an exclusive economic zone as valid but invalidated China’s nine-dash line on official Chinese maritime maps.