Congressman files resolution to prevent House members from being portrayed as crooks in movies, TV shows

Interaksyon.com reports that Congressman Aurelio Gonzales Jr.-who represents Pampanga’s third district-has filed House Resolution 2140, which aims to  to appeal to the local television and movie industry to "minimize, prevent, or stop typecasting congressmen and congresswomen as villains or crooks in movies and television telenovelas, in order not to create stereotypes or negative public perception against members of the House of Representatives."

The report quoted Gonzales, who explained: "These negative typecastings (sic) influence the general public, especially young children, into forming a negative impression about the members of the House of Representatives."

In reponse to the resolution, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chairman Grace Poe Llmanzares said in a press statement that House Resolution 2140 "has a chilling effect of indirectly restraining the right of the public to know the acts of their government and to hold their leaders accountable." She likewise pointed out: " It is beyond the authority of the Board to prohibit an idea or concept until such is translated into a motion picture or television program that transgresses legal provisions.  An act that determines what the public may be permitted to know or to watch could be interpreted as a species of prior restraint."

For more on this story, log on to Interaksyon.com or read the MTRCB press statement.