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'Unlawful, pro-censorship': TBA Studios says FDCP overstepping mandate with new-normal rules

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/entertainment/10/15/20191015-heneral-luna.jpg"/><figcaption>TBA Studios is the film company behind the massive hit &#x27;Heneral Luna.&#x27; <em>TBA Studios</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — TBA Studios, the film company behind &quot;Heneral Luna&quot; and &quot;I&#x27;m Drunk, I Love You,&quot; has joined the growing dissent to what it branded as an &quot;unlawful&quot; order from the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), amid the industry&#x27;s transition to new-normal practices.</p><p>The FDCP, in <a href="https://fdcp.ph/media/fdcp-advisory-06-clarificatory-guidelines-fdcp-doh-dole-joint-administrative-order-no-2020-001">Advisory 06</a> that was released last week, detailed further, clarificatory guidelines regarding production shoots under the persisting coronavirus community quarantine.</p><p>Aside from earlier outlined protocols regarding safety and health on set, the FDCP now said productions are required to register with the government agency, seven days prior to a shoot.</p><p>The FDCP also enumerated its nationwide scope to include productions in television, advertising, and live events, among others.</p><p>Since the advisory&#x27;s release, numerous organizations have denounced it, including the Directors&#x27; Guild of the Philippines, the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association, and the more encompassing Inter-Guild Alliance.</p><p>In its own statement, TBA Studios pointed out that the FDCP&#x27;s mandate is &quot;to respect the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression and to promote the development and growth of the local film industry as a medium for the upliftment of aesthetic, cultural and social values or the better understanding and appreciation of the Filipino identity.&quot;</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/TBAStudiosPH/posts/2326069227700480" data-width="auto"> </div><p>But the FDCP, TBA Studios asserted, has overstepped its mandate, noting that the law creating the agency &quot;does not grant the council regulatory powers.&quot;</p><p>TBA Studios took particular issue with the FDCP requirement of registering a production a week prior, saying the measure is a &quot;form of prior restraint that exudes censorship.&quot;</p><p>The FDCP, according to TBA Studios, can &quot;use this false reportorial power and deny such production.&quot;</p><p>Further, the film company noted that the FDCP is going beyond its scope by applying the same measure to TV programs, advertising content, and corporate audiovisual productions.</p><p>&quot;We at TBA Studios find FDCP&#x27;s Advisory No. 6 to be overreaching, unlawful, and reeking of censorship in the form of prior restraint,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;Lastly, FDCP is now hostile to its own mandate. TBA Studios stands united against FDCP Advisory No. 6.&quot;</p>

<p>"We at TBA Studios find FDCP's Advisory No. 6 to be overreaching, unlawful, and reeking of censorship in the form of prior restraint."</p>

"We at TBA Studios find FDCP's Advisory No. 6 to be overreaching, unlawful, and reeking of censorship in the form of prior restraint."