MTRCB says Comelec has jurisdiction over anti-Duterte ads

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board has no jurisdiction over political advertisements, its chairman said on Friday.

Attorney Eugenio "Toto" Villareal made the remark after supporters of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte decried TV ads that pit their candidate in a bad light starting on Thursday night.

Villareal said it was the Comelec that had jurisdiction over political advertisements under the Fair Elections Act and Comelec Resolution No. 10049, or the implementing rules and regulations of the election law.

He added that such ads are not submitted to the MTRCB for review.

"Nais namin i-clarify na ang MTCB ay walang jurisdiction sa mga tinatawag na political ads," Villareal said.

"Ang may jurisdiction po niya in all instances ay comelec at ito po ay naka lagay sa fair election's act at sa implementing rules and regulations," he added.

Section 11 Pt. 1 of Republic Act No. 9006 states that it is unlawful to "air or broadcast any election propaganda by television or radio for or against a candidate or group of candidates to any public office" unless the ad identifies the "candidate, political party, or party-list group, organization, and/or coalition thereof for whose benefit the election propaganda was printed or aired."

Villareal said even the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas and the advertisement standards council didn't have jurisdiction over political advertisements.

The MTRCB chairman would not comment on Comelec spokesman James Jimenez's remark that the commission only had jurisdiction over the cost of the ads and its implications on the candidates' spending limits. —with a report from Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News