THE Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) pulled out the screening of the Sony movie “Uncharted” in Philippine cinemas following a request for re-evaluation from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) due to a scene containing an image of the nine-dash line maritime claims of China that is contrary to the national interest.

In its response to the DFA, MTRCB stated that it had “ordered Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. to cease and desist from exhibiting the said motion picture, unless and until they are able to remove the objectionable scenes.”

MTRCB further reported that Columbia has since complied with its order and has pulled out the movie from the cinemas.

The nine-dash claim is contrary to the national interest, which has been settled in the 2016 Arbitral Award.

In 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal ruled that China’s nine-dash line has no legal basis as its accession to UNCLOS has extinguished any of its rights that it may have had in the maritime areas in the South China Sea.

China also never had historic rights in the waters within the nine-dash line.

This is not the first time that the Department has sought to prohibit the screening of a Hollywood movie featuring controversial China’s nine-dash line.

In 2019, DFA requested the MTRCB pull out the DreamWorks animated feature “Abominable” after a scene showed the Chinese nine-dash line.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Cristina Lee-Pisco