Palace: Up to MTRCB, DFA chief to pull out ‘Abominable’ from cinemas

MANILA, Philippines — It is up to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) whether or not animated film “Abominable” should be pulled out from cinemas over a scene featuring China’s “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, Malacañang said Tuesday.

“Depende siguro yan sa MTRCB kung ano ang assessment nila,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

(That depends on MTRCB, whatever their assessment is.)

Asked whether it is “abominable” to place the “nine-dash line” in the movie, Panelo said he “will leave that to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.”

Vietnam has banned “Abominable,” a joint production by Dreamworks and China’s Pearl Studio, because of a scene displaying China’s unilaterally imposed “nine-dash line.”

The U-shaped line is a feature used on Chinese maps to justify its claims over vast expanses of the resource-rich South China Sea, including large waters of Vietnam. /je

READ: Vietnam pulls ‘Abominable’ film over South China Sea map