Production
Some lines in a Philippine ad are not written by the creative team. A food supplement ad carries a set message in Filipino, a medicine ad shows its generic name in a box, a property ad shows its License to Sell. Each comes with rules on size, position and timing, and together they decide how the end of your film is built. Here is what goes where, from the ASC Manual.
Which ads need a mandatory statement?
The ASC Manual sets these out category by category, and most of them come from a government rule the Manual points back to.
| Category | What the ad must carry | Rule behind it |
| Food or dietary supplements | “MAHALAGANG PAALALA: ANG (NAME OF PRODUCT) AY HINDI GAMOT AT HINDI DAPAT GAMITING PANGGAMOT SA ANUMANG URI NG SAKIT.” | ASC Manual, with FDA Administrative Order 2010-008 |
| Over-the-counter drugs and home remedies | “If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.” | ASC Manual |
| Pharmaceutical products | The generic name in a box, above the brand name and larger than it | ASC Manual, with Administrative Order 2016-008 |
| Real estate projects | The developer, the location down to barangay and city, and the License to Sell number and date of issue | ASC Manual |
| Alcohol and gaming | No set line, but nobody under 21 on screen | ASC Manual |
An ad that goes through the ASC is screened twice, as storyboard and as finished film; our guide to ASC clearance for video ads covers both steps. This page covers what the screener expects to see in the frame.
How does the supplement message have to appear on video?
On every frame, not just the last one. For TV, cinema, electronic billboards and digital video, the Manual says “All frames shall have the standard message at the top portion of the frame”, in a font at least “1/3 of the size of the biggest font size in the entire material”, in Arial or Tahoma, “in all caps and in white text over a black background”.
Three more rules shape the edit. The ad “Must end with a separate frame containing the standard message”. The message “shall be audibly voiced and enunciated, not sped up that it is no longer understandable”. And on an electronic billboard, where there is no sound, the end frame must stay up “for at least two seconds”.
Frame for the band
The message occupies the top of every shot, so every shot has to leave room for it. On an AI production that means composing and generating with the band in mind from the first frame, not discovering in the edit that a face or a packshot sits under it.
What about medicines?
For pharmaceutical products, the generic name “shall be rendered inside a box and placed immediately above the Brand Name”, and it must be “prominently larger than the Brand Name”. In a video of 30 seconds or longer it appears at least twice: first when the brand is first shown or named, and again “towards the end of the material and shown for at least one (1) second”. Shorter videos show it at least once. If the generic name on the pack is not readable in the shot, it goes on screen separately, in the same frame.
Over-the-counter drugs and home remedies also carry “If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.” In audio ads the closing lines run in a fixed order, and a promotion’s details, including the promo permit number, come first. The permit itself is covered in our guide to the sales promotion permit.
Where does the ASC reference number go?
Only in the digital versions. The Manual says “There is no need to include the ASC Reference number in TV and Cinema ads”, but the digital version of an approved broadcast ad must carry it, on the last frame “together with the mandatory government phrase”. Supplements are the exception: the MAHALAGANG PAALALA must be the only element on the end frame, so the reference code moves to the first or the second-to-last frame.
How much time do these lines take from the film?
More than most scripts allow for. Broadcast lengths follow the KBP standard of “5s, 10s, 15s, 30s, 45s, 60s and multiples of 15s beyond 60 seconds”, and the mandatory statements have to fit inside that length. At clearance, the ASC disapproves a broadcast ad when “government mandatory statements are not within the standard commercial lengths”, or are not delivered “in a clear, audible, and unhurried manner”.
The squeeze is worst in the short cuts. A supplement spot needs its separate end frame and its voiced message in the 15-second version as much as in the 60. Write the statement into every cut-down’s script at the start, instead of trimming the story around it in the edit.
→ Property ads list three things. The developer’s name, the project’s location including the barangay and the city or municipality, and the License to Sell number with its date of issue, in every broadcast, cinema and digital video ad.
→ Alcohol ads cast adults only. “People shown in advertisements of alcohol beverages SHALL be at least 21 years old.”
→ Gaming ads do the same. They must not “feature people who are or who appear to be under 21 years old”, and must not be directed at anyone under 21.
General information from the ASC Code of Ethics and Standard Manual of Procedures effective 29 April 2024, which points to the FDA orders named above. Check the current versions before production.
What should you ask your production team?
PUNX is an AI video agency in Makati: 50-plus people, founded 2023, producing for P&G, San Miguel, Petron, GCash and Sun Life. Whoever makes your ad, these questions belong in the first meeting, not the final review.
→ Which category does the product fall in? Supplement, OTC drug, prescription drug, property, alcohol, gaming. The answer sets the end frame before anyone writes a line.
→ Is the statement on every frame that needs it? The supplement message sits on all frames, not just the last. Check the storyboard, then the final file.
→ Does every cut-down still fit it? List each length, and check that each one carries the full statement, voiced where the rules require it.
FAQ
What is the MAHALAGANG PAALALA in ads?
It is the standard message every food or dietary supplement ad in the Philippines must carry: “MAHALAGANG PAALALA: ANG (NAME OF PRODUCT) AY HINDI GAMOT AT HINDI DAPAT GAMITING PANGGAMOT SA ANUMANG URI NG SAKIT.” The ASC Manual applies it under FDA Administrative Order 2010-008.
Does the MAHALAGANG PAALALA have to be voiced in a video ad?
Yes. On TV, cinema and digital video it must appear on every frame, end on a separate frame, and be audibly voiced, not sped up. Electronic billboards with no sound need the end frame on screen for at least two seconds instead.
How long must the generic name appear in a medicine ad?
In videos of 30 seconds or longer, at least twice: with the first brand mention, and again towards the end for at least one second. Shorter videos show it at least once. It sits in a box above the brand name, in a larger font.
Do digital ads need the ASC reference number?
Digital versions of approved broadcast ads do, on the last frame with the mandatory government phrase. TV and cinema ads do not. For supplements, the reference code goes on the first or second-to-last frame, because the end frame carries only the standard message.
Related
AI video production — from brief to delivery
ASC clearance for video ads — the two screenings, and what restarts them
Product accuracy in AI ads — packshots, logos and labels
Regulated category?
Send us the product and the cut lengths you need. We will build the end frame and the statement timing into the storyboard from the start.
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