“News5 is deeply concerned by the MTRCB decision to place its Public Service program T3 under preventive suspension.

We believe that this oversteps the mandate of the MTRCB, and sets it on a path could threaten the independence and freedom of the broadcast industry.

Self-regulatory mechanisms internal to the organization and instituted within the industry and to which TV5 subscribes were in place, enforced, and ultimately effective in disciplining programs host Ben, Raffy, and Erwin Tulfo.

MTRCB’s action of placing T3 under preventive suspension raises the question of what else, other than the disciplining of the anchors, the government aims to achieve. The Tulfos have been sanctioned. What else is there for government to resolve? A preventive suspension suggests that the continued broadcast of the program would constitute a danger to the viewing public.

There is no such danger. T3 was conceptualized, produced, and ultimately classified as news and public service program. For MTRCB to even consider or suggest by its actions that T3 has suddenly lost all its purpose and value, or worse, poses a danger to the public such that it warrants censorship, sets a dangerous tone and could potentially lead to a dangerous precedent for all news programs.”