Currently, it is being debated whether the ‘Barbie‘ movie should be banned in the Philippines, and the reason is alarming, this has greatly disappointed fans in the Asian country who were eager to go to the premiere of the highly anticipated film.
Just a few days after the film was banned in Vietnam, it has been announced that the same decision is being debated in the Philippines and everything points to the same reason. In the Warner Bros. film, there is a scene showing a map of the South China Sea with the “nine-dashed line“, so the reasons for the ban are mainly due to political issues.
The Philippine Film and Television Classification and Review Board published last Tuesday a notice on its website stating the following: “We confirm that the Board has reviewed the movie ‘Barbie’ today, July 4th, 2023. At this time, the assigned First Review Committee is deliberating on Warner Brothers F.E. Inc.’s application for an Exhibition Permit“, wh ere no explanation was given as to the reason for the statement.
The delimitations known as the “nine-dash line” represent China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, where surrounding countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have competing claims. The U-shaped line was repudiated in an international arbitration ruling by a tribunal in The Hague in 2016, however, China continues to deny this ruling and does not recognize the rulings.
Latest reports from CNN Philippines point that the film will most likely be banned in this Asian nation, as according to Senator Francis Tolentino, “If the incorrect nine-stripe line was indeed depicted within the film, then it behooves the MTRCB to ban the Barbie film as it denigrates Philippine sovereignty“.
