37 Published By :Universal Multidisciplinary Research Institute Pvt Ltd 37 South -Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies: ISSN:2349-7858 Volume 2 Issue 4 (SJIF:2.246) CENSORSHIP, HISTORY, AND PHILIPPINE CINEMA: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MTRCB *Luigi Conti ABSTRACT From the ashes of Ferdinand Marcos’s regime as Philippine dictator, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) was established as the principal figure in charge of “classifying” films into categories for the guidance of the moviegoing public. This paper seeks to trace the historical basis of film censorship in the Philippines and its justifications, to the current configuration of the MTRCB. From the Spanish era to the American colonial period, there have been a number of principal reasons for film censorship within the industry, such as religion, politics, and morality. But exactly thirty years after its establishment in the latter part of the Marcos dictatorship, the MTRCB continues to wield the power to censor films through its “X” rating, as determined by the Board’s chairman. There are a number of recent cases where the MTRCB used its “X” rating in order to enforce and maintain the status quo. The present paper, however, does not call for the complete abolition of the MTRCB. In order for Philippine film to flourish and mature as a medium unrestricted by the concerns of religious groups or moral crusaders, the MTRCB must be transformed into a completely self-regulatory body, devoid of its censorship powers and divested of its moral high ground. The cinema thrives in the realm of ideas. Like any other artistic endeavor, films are primarily a vehicle for discourse that touch upon social, political, and philosophical issues. The concerns of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, for example, is articulated in Aureus Solito’s Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros), where a gay teenager falls in love with a policeman, resulting in his estrangement from his family that leads a crooked livelihood. Likewise, the underbelly of Manila’s sex industry is brutally revealed in Jose Javier Reyes’ Live Show/Toro (2000), where