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A
collection of Philippine laws, statutes and codes
not
included or cited in the
main indices
of
the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.
This page features the full text of
Republic Act No. 8370.
REPUBLIC ACT NO.
8370
CHILDREN'S
TELEVISION
ACT OF 1997
Section 1. Title. —
This
Act shall be known as the "Children's Television Act of 1997".
Sec. 2. Declaration
of policy. — The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in
nation-building
and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual,
intellectual
and social well-being by enhancing their over-all development, taking
into
account sectoral needs and conditions in the development of
educational,
cultural, recreational policies and programs addressed to them.
Likewise, the State
recognizes
the importance and impact of broadcast media, particularly television
programs
on the value formation and intellectual development of children and
must
take steps to support and protect children's interests by providing
television
programs that reflect their needs, concerns and interests without
exploiting
them.
The State recognizes
broadcasting
as a form of mass communication guaranteed by the Constitution, the
exercise
of which is impressed with public interest, and which imposes upon the
broadcast industry the social responsibility of ensuring that its
activities
serve the interest and welfare of the Filipino people.
Sec. 3. Definition
of terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall
mean:
a) Children
—
all
persons below eighteen (18) years old;
b) Children's
television
— refers to programs and other materials broadcast on television
that
are specifically designed for viewing by children;
c) Child-friendly
programs
— refer to programs not specifically designed for viewing by children
but
which serve to further the positive development of children and contain
no elements that may result in physical, mental and emotional harm to
them.
These include various formats and genre that appeal to children and are
made available for all ages from early childhood to adolescence; and
d) Child-viewing
hours — hours which are considered to be appropriate for children
to
watch
television taking into account other activities which are necessary or
desirable for their balanced development.
Sec. 4. Establishment
of a National Council for Children's Television. — There is hereby
established a National Council for Children's Television (NCCT),
hereinafter
referred to as the Council, which shall be attached to the Office of
the
President for purposes of administrative supervision.
The Council shall be
composed
of five (5) members who shall be appointed by the President for a term
of three (3) years: Provided, That of the first appointees:
a) the term
of the first
set of two (2) members shall be for three (3) years;
b) the term of the
second
set of two (2) members shall be for two (2) years; and
c) the term of the
remaining
member shall be for one (1) year.
The members of the Council
shall
elect a chairperson from among themselves.
Members of the Council
shall
be appointed on the basis of their integrity, high degree of
professionalism
and having distinguished themselves as an authority in the promotion of
children's rights to responsible television programming and shall
represent
the following sectors, namely: academe, broadcast media, child
development
specialists, parents and child-focused non-government organizations
duly
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and with
membership
preferably in all the cities and provinces throughout the country. The
nominees shall be nominated by their respective organization and the
Council
for the Welfare of Children in consultation with the Advisory Committee.
The members of the
Council
shall serve and continue to hold office until their successors shall
have
been appointed and qualified. Should a member of the Council fail to
complete
his/her term, the successor shall be appointed by the President, but
only
for the unexpired portion of the term.
The ranks, emoluments
and
allowances of the members of the Council shall be in accordance with
the
Salary Standardization Law and other applicable laws.
Sec. 5. The Council
Secretariat. — The Council shall organize a secretariat to be
headed
by an Executive Director and with not more than twenty (20) personnel,
as may be determined by the Council. The Council shall determine the
secretariat's
staffing pattern, determine the qualifications, duties,
responsibilities
and functions, as well as compensation for the positions to be created
by the Council upon recommendation of the Executive Director subject to
the National Compensation and Classification Plan and other existing
Civil
Service rules and regulations.
Sec. 6. The
Advisory
Committee and its composition. — There is hereby constituted an
Advisory
Committee which shall assist the Council in the formulation of national
policies pertaining to children's broadcast programs and in monitoring
its implementation. The Council and the Advisory Committee shall meet
at
least once every quarter of a year.
The members of the
Advisory
Committee shall be composed of the following:
a) the
Executive
Director
of the Council for the Welfare of Children;
b) the Chairman or
Executive
Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts;
c) the President of
the
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas;
d) the President or
Executive
Director of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers;
e) Press
Undersecretary/Officer-In-Charge
of the Philippine Information Agency;
f) the Chairman of
the
Movie
and Television Review and Classification Board; and
g) a representative
from
the National Telecommunications Commission.
Whenever any member of the
Advisory
Committee is unable to attend, he or she shall designate a
representative
to attend as his or her alternate.
Sec. 7. Functions
of the Council. — The Council shall have the following functions:
a) to
formulate and
recommend
plans, policies and priorities for government and private sector (i.e.
broadcasters, producers, advertisers) action towards the development of
high quality locally-produced children's television programming, to
meet
the developmental and informational needs of children;
b) to promote and
encourage
the production and broadcasting of developmentally- appropriate
television
programs for children through the administration of a national
endowment
fund for children's television and other necessary mechanisms;
c) to monitor, review
and
classify children's television programs and advertisements aired during
the hours known to be child-viewing hours in order to take appropriate
action such as disseminating information to the public and bringing
monitoring
results to the attention of concerned agencies for appropriate action;
d) to formulate,
together
with the television broadcast industry, a set of standards for
television
programs shown during child-viewing hours and work closely with the
industry
for the adoption and implementation of said standards;
e) to initiate the
conduct
of research for policy formulation and program development and
disseminate
its results to broadcasters, advertisers, parents and educators on
issues
related to television and Filipino children;
f) to promote media
education
within the formal school system and other non-formal means in
cooperation
with private organizations;
g) to monitor the
implementation
of this Act and other existing government policies and regulations
pertaining
to children's broadcast programs, as well as to recommend and require
the
appropriate government agencies and/or self-regulatory bodies concerned
to enforce the appropriate sanctions for violations of these
regulations
and policies based on their respective mandates;
h) to recommend to
Congress
appropriate legislative measures which will grant incentives for
independent
producers and broadcasters to encourage the production of quality local
children's television programs; and
i) to act on
complaints
committed in violation of this Act with the goal of protecting children
from the negative and harmful influences and to cause or initiate the
prosecution
of violators of this Act.
Sec. 8. Submission of
comprehensive media program for children. — Within one (1) year
from
the effectivity of this Act, the Council in consultation with the
Advisory
Committee shall submit to Congress a comprehensive development and
protection
program with the end in view of formulating policies on children's
media
programs, and recommending plans and priorities for government towards
the promotion, development, production and broadcasting of
developmentally
-appropriate media programs for children. Likewise, it shall prescribe
an appropriate set of criteria for evaluating programs with the end in
view of establishing a Television Violence Rating Code.
Towards this end, the
Council
may consider internationally-accepted programs of action for children's
television. More particularly, the Council shall be guided by the
following
standards herein to be known as "The Charter of Children's
Television":
a) Children
should have
programs of high quality which are made specifically for them, and
which
do not exploit them. These programs, in addition to being entertaining
should allow children to develop physically, mentally and socially to
their
fullest potential;
b) Children should
hear,
see and express themselves, their culture, languages and life
experiences
through television programs which affirm their sense of self, community
and place;
c) Children's
programs
should
promote an awareness and appreciation of other cultures in parallel
with
the child's own cultural background;
d) Children's program
should
be wide-ranging in genre and content, but should not include gratuitous
scenes of violence and sex;
e) Children's program
should
be aired in regular time slots when children are available to view
and/or
distributed through widely accessible media or technologies;
f) Sufficient funds
must
be made available to make these programs conform to the highest
possible
standards; and
g) Government,
production,
distribution and funding organizations should recognize both the
importance
and vulnerability of indigenous children's television and the steps to
support and protect it.
Sec. 9. Allotment of air
time for educational children's programs. — A minimum of fifteen
percent
(15%) of the daily total air time of each broadcasting network shall be
allotted for child-friendly shows within the regular programming of all
networks granted franchises or as a condition for renewal of broadcast
licenses hereinafter, to be included as part of the network's
responsibility
of serving the public.
Sec. 10. Implementing
rules and regulations. — The Council, in consultation with all
appropriate
government agencies and non-government organizations, shall issue the
necessary
rules and regulations for the implementation of this Act within ninety
(90) days after its effectivity.
Sec. 11. Penalty.
— In the exercise of its administrative function, the Council shall
petition the proper government agencies and/or appropriate
self-regulatory
bodies to suspend, revoke or cancel the license to operate television
stations
found violating any provision of this Act and its implementing rules
and
regulations.
Sec. 12. The
National
Endowment Fund for Children's Television. — The creation of a
National
Endowment Fund for Children's Television, hereinafter referred to as
the
Fund, is created for the promotion of high standards of indigenous
program
development in children's television and media specifically intended
for
Filipino children. An amount of Thirty million pesos (P30,000,000)
sourced
from the income of the lotto operations of the Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes
Office (PCSO) and another Thirty million pesos (P30,000,000) from the
gross
income of the Philippine Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) shall form part of
the Fund.
a) The Fund shall be
created
for the purpose of developing and producing high quality television
programs
that are culturally-relevant and developmentally- appropriate for
children.
b) The Fund is
intended
to contribute to the development of media programs that contribute to
Filipino
children's awareness and appreciation for their cultural identity,
national
heritage and social issues that will in turn help them grow to be
productive
and nationalistic citizens.
c) Access to the
Fund
shall
be provided by the Council through a grant application process for
qualified
producers and organizations with proven track record in the production
of high quality children's television programs. Necessary requirements
are to be submitted to the Council for approval.
d) Copyright for
programs
and products to be developed with assistance from the Fund will be
jointly
owned by the Council and the producers.
e) Priority
shall be given
to independent producers and organizations or institutions including
youth
organizations who do not have access to the resources of a national
network.
f) The Council
is
authorized
to accept grants, contributions or donations from private corporations
and international donors for the National Endowment Fund for Children's
Television: Provided, That such grants, contributions, or
donations
are exempted from donor's and donee's taxes: Provided, further, That
these
funds will be used strictly for the endowment fund.
Sec. 13. Appropriations.
— For the initial operating expenses of the Council, the amount of Five
million pesos (P5,000,000) is hereby appropriated out of the funds of
the
National Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Thereafter, it shall
submit
to the Department of Budget and Management its proposed budget for
inclusion
in the General Appropriations Act, approved by Congress.
Sec. 14. Separability
clause. — If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional,
the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other
provisions
thereof.
Sec. 15. Repealing
clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, presidential
proclamations,
rules and regulations or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec. 16. Effectivity
clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication
in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.
Approved:
October 28, 1997
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