THE Villafuerte brothers in the House of Representatives have filed a bill seeking to grant cash incentives of P500,000 to P1 million each to filmmakers, writers, and actors who have brought honor to the country through works that have received international acclaim.
Reps. Luigi and Miguel Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur filed House Bill (HB) No. 3743, seeking to grant these tax-free cash incentives to Filipino artists and their works that have won top awards in international film festivals, as determined by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and other arts-related institutions.
The FDCP, an attached agency to the Office of the President (OP), is spearheading the country’s celebration this month of the Philippine Film Industry Month (PFIM).
Multi-awarded film and television director-writer Jose Javier Reyes is the FDCP chairperson-CEO.
The other authors of the “Artists’ Incentives Act” are Reps. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, also of Camarines Sur, and Terry Ridon (PL, Bicol Saro).
Luigi Villafuerte said the bill needs congressional support because “the international awards reaped by the excellent works of our Filipino artists call for appropriate government acknowledgement.”
Miguel said the grant of cash rewards “will certainly encourage Filipino creative artists to engage in various forms of art to represent the country and further hone their skills and craft.”
In the previous Congress, Miguel recalled that the House special committee on the creative industry and performing arts had reached as far as consolidating, through a technical working group (TWG), a similar bill — HB No. 1934 — with HB 1281 and HB 4540 filed by their father, then representative and Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte.
HB 1281 was authored by then-Pangasinan Rep. Christopher de Venecia, who was also the chairman at that time of this House special committee; while HB 4540 was introduced by Quezon City Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas.
In HB 3743, its four authors said that the accolades won by an ever-increasing number of Filipino creative works are “testaments to the excellence of Filipino creatives.”
However, they said, “there remains a lack of formal and institutional recognition for these achievements.”
The bill identified these international competitions and film festivals to include the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Sundance Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival in the United States, the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, the Venice Film Festival in Italy, and the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.
The authors of the bill noted that the recent award-winning works or performances include Leonor Will Never Die of director Martika Escobar that won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award in the 2022 Sundance Awards in the US; actor John Arcilla who bagged the Coppi Volpi (Volpi Cup) for Best Actor in the 78th Venice Film Festival in Italy in 2021; the short film Tarang of director Arvin Belarmino that received the Berlin Brandenburg Short Award for Best Film at the 36th Interfilm Berlin Short Film Festival in Germany in 2020; and the film Yellow Rose of director-writer Diane Paragas that won the Reel Asian Best Feature Film award in the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada in 2019.
Under the bill, filmmakers, film production entities, literary writers, artists and performers in the creative sector who have garnered the highest award from an international competition, film festival, or exhibition as determined by the NCCA, FDCP, and CCP are to each get P1 million.
Winning artists, production entities, literary writers, artists, and performers in the creative sector who have garnered special recognition and/or any other award not considered as the highest award from an international competition or film festival shall each receive P500,000.
The bill states that in cases where there is more than one winner of a particular award, the amount shall be equally divided among the winners.
The amount necessary for the grant of such cash rewards shall be charged against the National Endowment for Culture and the Arts established under Section 50 of Republic Act (RA) 10066 or the “National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009,” subject to existing budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
