MTRCB: ‘The Da Vinci Code’ showing not yet OK

The showing of “The Da Vinci Code," the controversial film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel, is yet to be approved by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, said Consoliza Laguardia, MTRCB chairman. Laguardia made the statement Tuesday after Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and the Philippine Alliance Against Pornography (PAAP) called for a stop of the movie showing in local theaters. Arguelles and PAAP spokesman Boy Blue Filomeno dubbed the film “blasphemous" because it reportedly “challenges the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity." Laguardia said only the trailer of the movie was approved by the MTRCB because “there was nothing blasphemous" in it. “We have not yet received the application for the showing of the movie, so there is still no permit allowing its showing. Wala pa talaga. Temporary pa lang iyong May 18 na showing ng pelikula," Laguardia said. She said a three-man review board will initially watch the movie before a five-man review committee watches it. "Maaprubahan lang ang showing ng pelikula kapag na-review na ito noong three-man at five-man boards," Laguardia said. The PAAP on Tuesday filed a complaint against the MTRCB before the Commission on Human Rights for reportedly allowing the showing of the “blasphemous" movie. "Nilapastangan ng pelikula ang pagkatao ni Kristo. We have to defend our faith," Filomeno told GMA’s DZBB radio. He accused Laguardia of “illegally signing the importation permit of the film, illegally approving the filming of the movie and for illegally approving the layout of streamers and ads that read ‘May 18: Seek the Truth’." He also said the MTRCB “illegally insult[ed]" the divinity of Christ and the Holy Trinity by allowing the selling of tickets of the movie despite the absence of a final classification rating. Arguelles said: “In a predominantly Christian country like the Philippines, making publicly available such film is sinfully condoning blasphemy and undermining the very limits of the people's value and religious foundation." “The Da Vinci Code" is a thriller based on the best-selling novel of Brown about purported conspiracies in the Roman Catholic Church. The book has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. The movie poses the idea that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and started a bloodline that continues to secretly exist. - GMANews.TV with Inq7.net