MTRCB urged to regulate video, online games for kids
SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is seeking to expand the powers and functions of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to include regulation of video and online games to uphold the safety and well-being of children amid their exposure to new technologies.
Gatchalian’s Senate Bill No. 1063 or the Video and Online Games and Outdoor Media Regulation Act, which seeks to amend Presidential Decree No. 1986 which created the MTRCB.
“Habang patuloy na nagbabago at lumalawak ang paggamit natin sa teknolohiya, dapat din nating tiyakin na nabibigyan ng kaukulang proteksyon at paggabay ang ating mga kabataan, lalo na mula sa mga hindi magagandang impluwensya at epektong maaaring idulot ng mga teknolohiyang ito,” Gatchalian said
The 2020 gaming statistics reveal that 43 million gamers drove the unprecedented rise in the Philippine gaming industry and across Southeast Asia, with 74% of the Philippine online gaming population playing on their mobile devices, 65% on PC games, and 45% playing on the classic console games.
Moreover, 43 million gamers in the country spent $572 million on games in 2019. This made the Philippines the world’s 25th biggest market by game revenues and a key driver of Southeast Asia’s overall games market during that time.
Aside from video and online games, Gatchalian also proposed that the MTRCB also regulate outdoor media, which includes advertising signs, Light Emitting Diode (LED) signs and billboards, ground signs, roof signs, and sign infrastructures.
In approving and disapproving the exhibition of video and online games, and outdoor media, the procedure that applies to a motion picture, television program, still, and other pictorial advertisements shall apply.
The procedure of examination and review, as well as the banning of media deemed unfit for consumption in the Philippines, will also apply to video and online games, and outdoor media.
