MANILA, Philippines?ABS-CBN has questioned the decision of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to suspend the airing of the talent program ?Showtime? for 20 days because of the ?vulgar? words uttered by its contest juror Rosanna Roces on two episodes last week.

In a statement sent to Inquirer on Tuesday, ABS-CBN said it has decided to ?remove? Roces as the show?s juror ?in the spirit of self-regulation.?

?Despite this, MTRCB still imposed a 20-day preventive suspension [on] the program,? the statement said. ?Thus, the network questions the need for [this] when Roces has already been removed from the program.?

The order signed on Monday by MTRCB chair Marissa Laguardia said the 20-day suspension was given to ?Showtime? to prevent ?further probable violation? of pertinent provisions of Section 3c of Presidential Decree No. 1986, which gives the MTRCB the authority to keep segments or scenes that are ?immoral, indecent, contrary to law and/or good customs, injurious to the prestige of the country or its people,? from being aired on television.

According to an incident report signed by three MTRCB special agents, the Jan. 4 episode featured another juror, Vice Ganda, telling Roces: ?Pagkatapos mong makipaghiwalay, hinete agad ang pinalit mo. (After splitting up [with your last boyfriend], you quickly replaced him with a horserace jockey).? Roces shot back: ?Walanghiya ka talaga, hayop ka, demonyo ka. ?Wag kang gan?on, nangbubuko ka ever. ?Di ka naman maganda, Vice Ganda lang ang pangalan mo. (You?re shameless, a beast, a demon. Don?t do that ? You?re not even beautiful, Vice Ganda is just your name).?

In another incident report submitted on Jan. 7, Roces was singled out for her comment to a contestant. She said: ?Murahin mo ?yong teacher mo ? walanghiya yang mga teacher na ?yan (Curse your teacher ? these teachers are shameless) ??

In a memorandum addressed to TV Programming and Entertainment head Linggit Tan on Jan. 5, Laguardia has ordered ABS-CBN representatives to attend a conference with MTRCB board members today at the MTRCB offices in Quezon City.

?This conference is crucial ? this will determine whether or not the show?s suspension should be lifted,? Laguardia told Inquirer on Tuesday.

?Showtime? features three groups of 10 to 15 members competing against each other. A fourth group is picked randomly from teams that did not pass the auditions that day. After the fourth group?s performance, a four-member jury decides whether it deserves to be a part of the main contest.

The judges then rate each group from 1 to 10. The group with the highest score wins and is given the chance to compete in the weekly showdown. Weekly winners compete in the finals.

?Showtime? is hosted by Vhong Navarro and Anne Curtis. Meantime, a new show titled ?Magpasikat,? with the same format and employs the same hosts and jurors, takes over the ?Showtime? slot.