Former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Tuesday said he will pursue a measure that would provide tax relief for those in the entertainment industry should he win in the upcoming May 2022 senatorial elections.
Bautista, who is running for senator in the upcoming polls, noted how entertainers suffered from loss of income during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we can do in the short term maybe is to lower their taxes or even waive it,” said Bautista, a former actor, during a forum for senatorial candidates on CNN Philippines.
The former local chief executive also said many entertainment establishments, such as bars and comedy clubs, were forced to closed or drive to closure during the pandemic especially when the government imposed restrictions that prevented people from going to these venues.
According to Bautista, he is already discussing with some legislators the proposed Creative Industries Act which, he said, aims to bring long-term benefits to the Philippine entertainment industry.
He said that while there have been subsidies for displaced performers under the Bayanihan 2 Act, which provided relief for sectors that were negatively impacted by the pandemic, these were just “band-aid solutions” devoid of long-term benefits.
Should it be enacted into law, Bautista said the Creative Industry Act would benefit, not just individual entertainers, but the entire entertainment industry.