The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is seeing nothing wrong in the Philippine screening of the movie "Barbie," which featured fictitious dash lines in one of its scenes. "Having carefully reviewed the film, the department is not convinced that the lines shown depict anything more than a fictitious path, in an imaginary world map," DFA said in a statement on Wednesday, July 12. Its remark came after the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) decided, after "thorough deliberations," not to ban "Barbie" because the dash lines shown in one of the scenes were not related to China's historic "nine-dash line," which it cites as basis in claiming the West Philippine Sea. In fact, the dash lines were only eight. "The Board believes that all things considered, it has no basis to ban the film 'Barbie' as there is no clear nor outright depiction of the 'nine-dash line' in the subject film, in comparison to films such as 'Abominable' and 'Uncharted,'" the MTRCB said.
DFA said it appreciated the opportunity given by the MTRCB when it first let the joint screening of the movie to ensure if the depiction of the imaginary world map is inimical to the national interest, in the context of adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award. DFA even provided advice to MTRCB "to avoid any misinterpretation," the agency added. "The department trusts that the MTRCB will do its utmost in the exercise of their mandate," it also said.