As Filipino filmmakers move heaven and earth to have their works shown to audiences everywhere, one Philippine government agency has redefined film “screening” altogether.

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) finds itself once more under public scrutiny. This time, the inciting incident was its X rating for the 2024 Cinemalaya Special Jury Award-winning documentary Alipato at Muog. The rating meant the acclaimed film was “not suitable for public exhibition.”

Although the MTRCB later lifted the above film’s X rating in favor of R-16, it was too late to turn things around under the watchful eye of the public.

‘Not suitable’ for democracy

Anyone who has seen Alipato at Muog or is familiar with its subject matter (enforced disappearance) knows that its director, JL Burgos, has faced endless obstacles in the search for his missing brother, Jonas.

“We were told na normal naman daw ‘yong mabigyan ng X rating sa unang review,” JL told Altermidya.

“Dapat hindi siya i-normalize, ang mga ganong bagay. Naniniwala ako, walang puwang ang censorship sa isang democratic na lipunan. Kasi sino ba ang magsasabi ng maganda o pangit, sila ba? ‘Yong moral values, ang magdi-dictate no’n ay isang institusyon ng gobyerno at hindi ‘yong manonood?”

MTRCB representatives cited various reasons for the film’s X rating. These include avoiding “sub judice” to the work’s supposed violation of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos’ Presidential Decree 1986. Precisely, the film’s tendency to “undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or the duly constituted authorities.”

However, during a recent Alipato at Muog film screening, JL revealed that the MTRCB cited the potential threat of a retired high-ranking military officer during one of their appeal meetings.

“Sa case namin, obviously state ‘yong tinutukoy ng ‘abductors.’ Kasi ang case ni Jonas ay enforced disappearance. Ang perpetrators nito, usually are state forces. Military, police, paramilitary, or with the acquiescence of the state,” JL said.

“Bakit sine-censor? Kasi may mga taong tinatamaan ng pelikulang ito.”

Lights, camera, collective action

Based on his observations on social media, the filmmaker saw how “infuriated” many were by the banning of a documentary that simply told a story of human rights violations.

“Ang lakas ng support namin. Naramdaman ko talaga ‘yon kasi nagme-message sila. Nakikita mo rin sa kanilang comments, kanilang posts na dapat hindi mangyari ang mga ganitong klaseng bagay, ang censorship,” JL said.

This translated to warm bodies, numbering above 50, who physically showed up in front of the MTRCB Building in Quezon City to appeal the film’s X rating — heavy rains notwithstanding. The crowd accounts for different organizations, artists, and human rights victims and their families, among other attendees.

JL is proud to say that since the film’s Cinemalaya exhibition, it has recorded full-house screenings crowded by new faces, which means Alipato at Muog has expanded outside his immediate circles.

Still, it’s too early to celebrate for the director, who believes that despite their victory against censorship, the MTRCB will continue to censor especially political films that reference the government’s lapses.

“Mangyayari at mangyayari siya. Kailangan maging vigilante, kailangan magsalita ‘yong mga tao,” JL said.

“Ako talaga kinu-question ko ‘yong pagbubuo ng MTRCB… Kailangan talagang balikan ang mga batas na ito. ‘Yong mga specific na clause doon na questionable talaga siya. Katulad noong ginamit sa amin na it ‘undermines the authority of the state.'”

He added that there seems to be no definitive criteria for MTRCB ratings, which leaves them open to interpretation and prone to whims of emotion.

This belief is supported by the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines (DGPI), which released a statement condemning the X rating of Alipato at Muog and the narrative film Dear Satan: “Although the film was eventually reclassified to R-16, this delay in justice…reflects negatively on the subjectivity and inconsistency in the MTRCB’s decision-making processes.”

Furthermore, the filmmaker regards the MTRCB’s very existence as an “insult” to Filipino audiences’ intelligence.

“Excess siya ng Martial Law regime. At ginagamit pa rin siya ngayon to censor films. Ayaw ko nga siyang sabihing outdated eh, kasi in the first place dapat wala nang ganito. Dapat may kalayaan ang mamamayan na magpahayag ng kanilang sinasabi,” JL said.

“Naniniwala ako na ang masang Pilipino ay meron ‘yang sariling talino. At kaya niyang sabihin kung maganda o pangit ‘yong pelikula, walang kwentang pelikula, bastos, offensive… let the audience decide. You don’t decide for the audience.”