The three channels, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and NBN, form the core of the study we were commissioned by the Asian Media Information and Communication Center. They were the stations singled out by the Singapore-based institute for the research because they are members of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union which, with UNICEF, undertakes a unique children’s television exchange.

Any well-meaning parent would expect the most popular mass medium to provide adequate and appropriate entertainment for their children. Never mind that the television set is oftentimes wrongly used as a babysitter. Never mind that in the local setting, the television set is commonly enthroned in the most strategic area of the house, or that the boob tube is on for the most part of the day and night.

What really matters to the parent is that television is expected to behave like a respectable member of the household, not as a rude, uninvited guest. Because of such deference accorded to the appliance, the TV set is expected to play a significant role in the family’s life, particularly among children, who because they have fewer household assignments sit before the TV set longest. Minus television, kids could get in the way of chores and would create a lot of racket.

It is true that the local broadcast industry allots most of the morning hours to family programming, assigning the more delicate and sensitive programs at night, when presumably, the kids are either tucked in bed or at least being guided by adults who should be home by then. After all, the TV set is shared by all members of the family so every member gets his or her viewing time. Tradition and law suggest that mornings from 8 till 11 are for kids (and so are afternoons from about 3 till 5).

So we looked at the schedules and monitored programs for an entire week.

ABS-CBN has only one locally-produced show for kids in the morning. That is Art Jam, an educational show targeting kids from the elementary grades to high school. The art program airs Saturdays at 8:30. The only other locally-produced shows are not children’s fare. One wakes up daily at 5:15 to horrific crime news on Magandang Umaga Pilipinas. Saturdays, one gets a breather with Salamat Dok! but we wonder if kids really care about the health show’s topics. Early Sunday mornings feature televised Mass. Elsewhere in the week, a child gets a steady diet of Western cartoons (Kim Possible, Madeline, Maya and Miguel, Power Rangers) Japanese animation (Bay Blade, Gatekeeper, Crash Nitro, Dice, Inuyasha, Maria Sama and Sanrio) as well as mawkish adult telenovelas from Latin America (Dos Amores) and Korea (Spring Day). Sunday mornings feature a Chinese novela (Girls Marching On) dubbed in Pilipino. Weekday mornings round off on ABS-CBN with Homeboy and its Sunday counterpart, At Home Ka Dito.

Rival network GMA bests ABS-CBN by airing two locally-produced kiddie programs on Saturday: Art Angel, with a similar format as Art Jam’s, and Lovely Day which last year raised eyebrows when it bagged the CMMA award as best children’s program. One also wakes up daily with similarly gory scenes of crime on Unang Hirit followed by a virtual Japanese festival of animes and cartoons: Ham Taro, Sugar: A Little Snow Fairy, Doraemon, SD Gundam Force, Medabots, Battle B-Daman, Rockman Exe, Machine Robo Rescue and Full Metal Alchemist. Two certified wholesome American materials come very early on weekends: Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues. A Korean novela titled Attic Cat signals the end of daily kiddie hour because it precedes the long-running Sis at 10:30 with its usually risqué discussions and wacky features. Saturdays it is Maynila that ushers the end of kiddie programming for the day while on Sundays it is Kay Susan Tayo, both followed by the dubbed Korean novela Sassy Girl.

If you think NBN, the station supported by our taxes, offers a relief, make sure you are seated as you read this and weep. All weekday mornings begin with The Morning Show and after that, it is a surfeit of news and public affairs, all under the general Teledyaryo heading. Saturday and Sunday morning programming features a women’s show, agricultural telemagazines, business programs, evangelist Ernest Angley and a report on the President’s activities. What is for kids? Nothing. Zero. Zilch.

Given the above, we are afraid the report on the landscape of children’s TV programming in the Philippines will be another source of international embarrassment.