Strip_tags not working for Contemplate after upgrading to PHP 5

I am using a CCK field called intro to output as the teaser.

The hosts have upgraded to PHP 5.2 and now it is not working anymore.

My teaser in the Contemplate was

<div align="left" style="margin-top:3px; clear="both">
<?php foreach ((array)$field_intro as $item) { ?>
<?php print $item['view'] ?><?php } ?>
</div>

In the template file it was

<? if($page == 0){
$content=strip_tags($content, '<b>, <i>');
}
?>
<?php print $content?>

[I want ONLY bold and itals to appear; NOT the

tags at all]

Now it doesn't work!

Can't figure out where to make the change either.

By the way, this works fine when there are no CCK fields in the required teaser.