Pasig lone district Rep. Roman Romulo confidently declared Wednesday, Aug. 10 that Filipinos are "much better" in the field of music and television dramas than what is seen on popular K-drama and K-pop from Korea.
During the maiden hearing of the Committee on Basic Education, Romulo, the panel chairman, brought up House Bill (HB) Nos. 931 and 1097, which bat for the creation of the Philippine High School for the Creative Arts System.
He noted that a similar measure had been passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading during the previous 18th Congress.
"For the creative arts or arts and design, that is the same proposal, that we create a special curriculum for those who wish to enter into the arts and design or the creative arts," he said in a manifestation before panel members.
"In the proposed bill approved on third reading then, we will have a board composed of the Department of Education (DepEd) to fix again the academic portion of the curriculum because we want to ensure that they are functionally literate; we want to ensure reading, reading, reading up to Grades 12; but we also need the expertise of the NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts), the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and other artists in order for us to encourage and inspire Filipino youth to enter the creative arts system," he said.
Romulo further said: "I think we all know during the pandemic many Filipinos were glued in watching K-drama and K-pop, but we know Filipinos are much better. But again, we are wondering why we are left behind."
The veteran lawmaker said that having a creative arts and design track in the basic education system could help improve the situation for the Philippines.
"Maybe, with the improvement of the creative arts track or the arts and design track, government will be able to support the creative talents of Filipinos and in the future be able to provide, and take over as being the lead in the creative arts industry not only in the Philippines or Asia, but globally. So that is the purpose of this measure," Romulo said.
In the end, and in order to expedite the passage of the measure in the current 19th Congress, the committee adopted and approved the 18th Congress version of the bill that had already hurdled third reading passage.
This legislative "shortcut" is allowed by House rules.