The National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT), created pursuant to Republic Act No. 8370 or the Children’s Television Act of 1997, is an attached agency of the Department of Education primarily mandated to promote media education and to produce quality television programs that will help develop the knowledge, skills, values, and strong sense of national identity of the Filipino child.

Section 9 of said law requires a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the daily total air time of each broadcasting network to be allotted to child-friendly shows as part of the network’s responsibility of serving the public.

To ensure the broadcast of child-friendly shows, Section 7 (d) directs the Council to formulate, together with the television broadcast industry, a set of standards for television programs shown during child-viewing hours and work closely with the industry for the adoption and implementation of the said standards. The standards encompass what a child-friendly program is which shall compose the 15% of the total air time of each network.

The Council Members, with the help of the Advisory Committee and Department of Education’s Legal Service Office worked together to finalize the standards.

On March 14, 2019, insights from the stakeholders were heard through a public consultation held at Luxent Hotel in Quezon City. A total of 60 participants from the broadcast media sector, academe, religious organizations, government agencies, and NCCT’s oversight agencies.

Inputs generated from the public consultation were consolidated and further studied by the Council. After thorough deliberation, the Child-Friendly Content Standards was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer on April 12, 2019.