MANILA, Philippines — The lines on the map shown in the movie “Barbie” are not considered an actual depiction of China’s nine-dash line claim and are merely a fictitious path, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
The DFA was given the opportunity by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for a joint screening of “Barbie” to ascertain if the depiction of the imaginary world map is inimical to the national interest, in the context of adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
To avoid any misinterpretation, the DFA provided advice to the MTRCB.
“Having carefully reviewed the film, the Department is not convinced that the lines shown depict anything more than a fictitious path, in an imaginary world map,” the DFA said in a statement.
The MTRCB allowed the screening of “Barbie” in the country.
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.
The late foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario led the Philippines’ winning arbitration case against China.
On July 12, 2016, the court ruled in the Philippines’ favor, declaring its sovereign rights to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) while invalidating China’s nine-dash line on official Chinese maritime maps.
But shortly after the successful outcome, then president Rodrigo Duterte decided to shelve the case for fear of displeasing Beijing.
MTRCB execs told to quit
At the House of Representatives, a senior lawmaker challenged officials of the MTRCB to voluntarily tender their resignation for failing to uphold the country’s national interest over China’s nine-dash line claim well within Philippines’ maritime territory.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the committee on constitutional amendments, aired this challenge after MTRCB officials allowed the showing of the film “Barbie” that reportedly depicted Beijing’s whimsical claim.
He said the MRTCB members’ vote to allow the commercial showing of the controversial movie starting July 19 “embarrasses and demeans the country and the administration of President Marcos Jr. before the international community.”
Comparatively though, Rodriguez found it “ironic that Vietnam has banned ‘Barbie’ for its dubious content while the MTRCB obviously wants to promote Beijing’s baseless expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.”
A female opposition lawmaker, however, gave a contrary view and even commended MTRCB for being “circumspect, judicious and prudent” in its contextual review of the foreign-produced movie.
“As a legislator looking at this matter using a policy lens, I can see the MTRCB wielded its authority responsibly. The power to ban any movie, I believe, should be wielded sparingly and as a last resort among the many powers and tools at the disposal of MTRCB,” Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera said.
“I also take this opportunity to invite the MTRCB and the local movie and television industry to recommend to Congress amendments to the MTRCB charter or have a new law entirely that will address the regulatory issues affecting their sector,” Herrera declared.
The deputy minority leader also said the legislative proposals could be in the form of a “codified omnibus law or a package of laws touching on the many facets of movie and television production, marketing, working conditions, and financing.”
“They may recommend more developmental roles for MTRCB and perhaps less regulation. I do see the movie and television sectors as over-regulated – a situation that hinders its growth and evolution. I would like to see the establishment of a grant-giving government agency for television and cyberspace,” she said.
RSF flags China
In Baguio City, reports from press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned of alleged “new threat to press freedom” in China with a new smartphone service supposedly designed to “train” and evaluate journalists on the regime’s propaganda.
The All-China Journalists Association, an organization overseen by the Chinese Communist Party, recently launched a smartphone service available on WeChat, which according to RSF East Asia bureau director Cedric Alviani “is designed to “train” media professionals in the “Marxist vision of journalism.”
Alviani said the service introduced on June 30 features at least 220 courses aimed at “helping” journalists pass the loyalty exam to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which is compulsory to obtain or renew press credentials since 2019.
RSF believes that since Xi took power in 2012, he has further tightened control of Chinese state media while initiating a violent clampdown on independent journalists and applying unprecedented censorship and surveillance online. The RSF report is titled “The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China.” — Delon Porcalla, Artemio Dumlao