Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday demanded that the scene in the animated film Abominable, which featured controversial China’s nine-dash line map in the South China Sea, be taken down instead of banning the showing of the movie in local theaters.
“Of course they should cut out the offending scene, which will show our displeasure better than if we unconstitutionally ban it as some suggest,” Locsin tweeted on Wednesday.
“Do cut out crudely. Maybe interject MTRCB [Movie and Television Review and Classification Board)] with a hectoring lecture. Then cartoon goes on.”
Locsin made his statement after Vietnam banned the film from being shown because it depicts China’s map indicating that it owns nearly the entire resource-rich South China Sea. Besides China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to some parts of the disputed territories.
Earlier, Locsin said there was no justification for prohibiting the film in the Philippines, but noted a “universal boycott” of DreamWorks might be called instead.
A joint production of DreamWorks and China’s Pearl Studio, Abominable tells the story of a Chinese teenager helping a yeti return to his home in Mount Everest.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, favored the Philippines in its Arbitral Award, invalidating China’s nine-dash line claims over the South China Sea and upholding Manila’s exclusive economic zone, including the West Philippine Sea.
But China rejected the ruling, insisting its massive claims over the South China Sea were indisputable and based on history.
