President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Friday expressed that he has no problem with the premiere of live-action film "Barbie" in the country as he described the alleged "nine-dash line" as a "work of fiction".
“Siyempre, ‘yung sinasabi nila ‘yung kasama doon sa ‘yung boundary line na ginawa. Ang sagot ko doon, what do you expect? It’s a work of fiction,” he told reporters in an ambush interview when he the inauguration of the Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project in Northern Samar.
"Barbie" the movie became controversial after many believed that the line surrounding the Asia continent in the child-like map drawing was China's "nine-dash line".
The nine-dash line is the line that China uses to mark its territorial claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei.
The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has approved the showing of "Barbie" in local theaters after a thorough review.
Senators earlier called to ban it due to the nine-dash line representation.
Despite MTRCB's approval, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) expressed its doubt over the line, saying it is not convinced it "depicts anything more than a fictitious map."
Nonetheless, DFA said it has provided guidance to the MTRCB without providing specific details.
Warner Bros., the American Entertainment company behind “Barbie”, called the map merely a "whimsical, child-like crayon drawing."
