CA junks MTRCB suspension order vs. Tulfo brothers, TV5

Tulfo brothers. Photo courtesy of TV5 Kapatid network.

MANILA — The Court of Appeals (CA) has sustained its own ruling nullifying the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board’s suspension order against TV5’s “T3 Kapatid Sagot Kita” program hosted by brothers Raffy, Ben and Erwin Tulfo.

In a six-page resolution written by Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang, the CA’s former 6th Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the MTRCB.

The CA also slapped the MTRCB with a fine worth P100,000 after the Tulfos allegedly threatened showbiz couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto in connection with the couple’s brawl with the hosts’ elder brother, Ramon.

In the ruling, the CA said that there was no need for it to discuss and revisit other issues, “being mere rehash of what we have extensively discussed in its March 7, 2013 decision.”

In the ruling dated May 15, 2014, the CA said that “petitioner’s right (TV5) to due process will be violated if [it] will merely adopt the [former findings] which were made on the basis of the evidence submitted… without making an independent determination based on the pleadings submitted[.]”

The CA said that the MTRCB never denied that the “T3 Kapatid Sagot Kita” hosts made the utterances.

“What it was questioning is the legality of the MTRCB’s determination that these utterances are objectionable and violative of Section 3(c) of Presidential Decree No. 1986,” it added.

Concurring in the ruling were Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario and Danton Bueser.