MANILA, Philippines?ABS-CBN is questioning the 20-day suspension imposed on the program ?Showtime? by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

The new show had ?no history of violation,? Kapamilya chief counsel Maximillian Uy said, and the board had been ?cavalier in its exercise of this extraordinary power.?

On Jan. 11, the board ordered the suspension due to ?vulgar utterances? by guest Rosanna Roces on the show?s Jan. 4 and 7 episodes. Uy argued that the guidelines for issuing such orders were ?vague.?

He said the suspension was ordered after the network had addressed the issue. (Roces was dropped from the show Jan. 8.)

Earlier, board member Sonny Cases assailed ABS-CBN for going straight to the Court of Appeals instead of filing for a motion for reconsideration. The CA granted the network?s request for a 60-day temporary restraining order.

Cases said the board could have lifted the suspension on account of Roces? removal, but ?[the network] did not give us that chance.?

Uy also reacted to charges that ABS-CBN tried to circumvent the order by having a similar program take over the ?Showtime? slot. ?The order covered a specific program,? he said. ?The same hosts and concept don?t make it the same show.? Marinel R. Cruz