‘R-16’ fills gap in MTRCB rating

warts Lily Monteverde of Regal, June Rufino of Viva, Jose Ibarra of GMA 7, Ramon del Rosario of TV5, Tess Fuentes of Star Cinema/ABS-CBN, child welfare advocate Mag Cruz-Hatol, theater owners’ group representative Dominic Du, and Sis. Consolata Manding of CBCP.

Participants were encouraged to share their thoughts on the issue and their suggestions were incorporated in the guidelines, Llamanzares recounted.

Llamanzares also consulted child development and psychology experts Honey Carandang and Cathy Babao-Guballa.

“Dr. Carandang presented scientific data... the gap between the ages of 13 and 18 shows a significant change in the maturity level of a person,” Llamanzares pointed out.

The new classification system was drafted, Llamanzares said, primarily to safeguard the audience, particularly children.

Good move

Lamangan said he was sure that the new classification system would help the industry. “More mature topics and themes could now be presented to a bigger audience.”

Another filmmaker, Jose Javier Reyes, agreed. He said the new rating showed that the board “trusts the maturity and intelligence of the Filipino movie-going public to savor films beyond the anesthesia of romcoms and slapstick.”