MTRCB sees sharp fall in earnings this year

MANILA, Philippines — The shutdown of broadcast giant ABS-CBN would result in 40 percent drop in the projected income of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) for 2020, its chair, Maria Rachel Arenas, told senators on Friday.

During her agency’s budget hearing, Arenas said the MTRCB’s revenue would also be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sen. Grace Poe, who presided over the budget hearing, noted that the MTRCB had consistently remitted more than what it had been receiving annually from the national government.

“What is your estimated [revenue loss] with the [closure] of… ABS-CBN?” Poe, a former MTRCB chair, asked Arenas who replied that it would be about 40 percent.

MTRCB executive director Ann Marie Nemenzo said ABS-CBN had paid P22.8 million in review fees in 2019, but it dropped to P7.4 million this year. —Marlon Ramos