CAGAYAN de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez filed a measure that seeks to limit the exposure of children to violent programming on television and cable systems to protect their welfare.

In pushing for House 2735 or the proposed Children’s Media Protection Act, Rodriguez explained that Presidential Decree 1986 does not authorize the Movie and the Television Review and Classification Board to prescribe ratings for violence in television programming.

Rodriguez reminded that it is the policy of the state to protect the welfare of children.

The lawmaker said the Public Telecommunications Policy Act also does not provide measures for broadcast operations of public communication entities to promulgate rules for signals containing specifications for blocking violent programming.

“This bill prescribes television violence rating codes for children and prohibits violent programming on television during certain hours,” Rodriguez said.

House Bill 2735 mandates the MTRCB and the National Telecommunications Commission to formulate television violence rating code.

Once enacted into law, the MTRCB and NTC shall pass rules and regulations prohibiting the broadcast on commercial television and public telecommunication entities, including cable operators, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. of programming that contains very violent scenes.