MANILA, Philippines - The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) on Tuesday said it found probable cause to take action against TV5's public affairs program, "T3", after it aired live comments from the Tulfo brothers issuing threats against celebrity couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto in connection with the couple's brawl with broadcaster Ramon Tulfo on May 6.
In a statement, the MTRCB chaired by Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, said acting on numerous complaints from the public and based on its own monitoring, the MTRCB Legal Counsel found probable cause to charge T3 for violation of Section 3(c), Presidential Decree 1986 for "airing scenes and utterances that are indecent and contrary to law, or with a dangerous tendency to encourage the commission of violence, or of a wrong or crime" in its May 7 episode.
The MTRCB Board has scheduled a hearing for May 10, 10:30 a.m. The Board also endorsed the matter to the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) for appropriate action.
Meanwhile, TV5 issued its own statement, saying it does not condone the Tulfos' statements and actions. TV5 and its news department pledged to discipline the Tulfos.
"News5 assures the public and all parties concerned that the statements made by the Tulfo brothers in its program,T3, last May 7, 2012, were unscripted, spontaneous, and do not in any way reflect the stand nor the policy of the network, its management, staff, and employees. While we understand the emotions at play during the broadcast," the statement said.
"News5 does not and will never condone such behavior. It was not only uncalled for but also runs counter to the established Code of Ethics that we all strictly adhere to. We are taking necessary actions to deal with this lapse in judgment on the part of the Tulfo brothers and assure the public that we remain committed to objective and impartial journalism."
InterAkyson.com is the online news portal of TV5.