Manila bans screening of The Da Vinci Code

MANILA: Authorities in the Philippine capital Manila on Thursday banned all cinemas in the city from screening the controversial film "The Da Vinci Code."   

A resolution was signed by a majority of the city councillors just hours after it premiered in Asia's bastion of Catholicism. 

The resolution said the movie, which was based on US author Dan Brown's explosive novel, is "offensive to the established beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church."   

It stressed that the country's Revised Penal Code states that "it is a crime to exhibit films which offend a religion."   

City councillor Benjamin Asilo, who authored the resolution, said malls and cinema owners who defy the ban risked being fined, or their owners imprisoned.   

Those caught selling pirated DVDs or VCDs of the movie could also be jailed for up to six months, Asilo warned. 

The movie takes a leaf from Brown's book which put forward the theory that Jesus Christ was married to the biblical prostitute Mary Magdalene, had children and that the sacred blood line still exists.   

The government's censor bureau earlier this week allowed the film to be shown but gave it an R-18 rating, meaning it is restricted to adults.   
Members of the politically influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines have also branded the movie as blasphemous.   

The Philippines is Asia's bastion of Catholicism, with over 80 percent of its 84 million population belonging to the religion.