Angel Thoughts
Let us all offer a thanksgiving prayer for the supreme sacrifice of Benigno Aquino Jr., who offered his life for his country on this day in l983 on the then Manila International Airport tarmac.
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Fast forward, we celebrate today the passage of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, a brainchild of Rep. Christopher ”Toff” De Venecia (4th District, Pangasinan). With this now a law, he has achieved a major breakthrough in his political career, and a personal triumph that also ensured a lasting legacy as the country’s champion of creative industries.
“The impact of this law is going to be huge,” Toff said. “This is a sector that has managed to survive and even thrive on its own, but with institutionalized support from the state, it will really help the creative industry sector grow and accelerate to the point where we want it to be, which is by 2030, the Philippines will be the number one creative economy in all of Asia.”
De Venecia filed the mother bill of this omnibus law during the 18th Congress. So contagious was his passion to champion the cause of creative industries that his colleagues at the House of Representatives, supported him wholly and even created a Special Committee on Creative Industries and Performing Arts with him as chairman.
The 35-year-old’s love for creative industries is deep-rooted. After all, he isn’t just the son of five-time speaker Joe De Venecia and Manay Gina. His maternal grandfather was Doc Jose Perez, the famed star-builder of Sampaguita Pictures, while his great grandfather Jose O. Vera wasn’t just a senator of the republic but also one of the founding fathers of Philippines movies. On his father’s side, he had national artist Victorio Edades among great-great-uncles.
Toff started his career as a writer, actor, model, director, and theatrical producer, with his own company, The Sandbox Collective. According to him, Republic Act 11904 or the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act mandates the promotion of the country’s creative industries by protecting the rights and capacities of creative firms, artists, artisans, creators, workers, indigenous cultural communities, content providers, and stakeholders in the creative industries.
“This law calls for the formation of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council, under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). This council will be created to guarantee the long-term development of the creative industries so that those who belong to them can reap the continuing creation of industry jobs and providing incentives to encourage and sustain Filipino excellence in creative industries,” said Toff. “More important, this law will also provide centralized State support to our creative industries, unlike the current system where State support is sporadic. With this law, I also expect an exponential increase in membership in the Philippine Creative Cities Network (PCCN), which I believe will foster economic growth and development in the regions through creativity.”
Baguio City is an example of a creative city, which registers an earning of $1,113,258 million annually from crafts and folk art expressions, such as woodcarving, silver craft, weaving, and tattooing. R.A. 11904 defines creative industries as “trades involving persons that produce cultural, artistic, and innovative goods and services originating in skill and talent and having a potential to create livelihood through the utilization of intellectual property.
Some of the direct beneficiaries of this law are the 1.5 million freelancers, in mostly creative work, who are contributing to the country’s gig economy. These are the actors, musicians, writers, makeup artists, dressmakers, computer programmers, graphic designers, app developers, and all those who engage in temporary, flexible jobs.
In addition, the creative industries include millions of workers in domains such as audiovisual media (vlogs, films, television, animatronics, broadcasts, music), digital interactive media (software and mobile apps, video games, digitalized creative content), creative services (creative research, creative development, and real-time artistic performances), design (fashion, toy-making, footwear-making, textile development, urban landscaping, jewelry making), publishing and printed media (comics, blogs, magazines, published media), performing arts (musical theater, circus, opera, puppetry), visual arts (drawings, sculptors, paintings, photographs), traditional cultural expressions (arts and crafts, gastronomy), and cultural sites (museums, cultural exhibitions).
During the Creative Futures conference on July 28, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual described the impact of this law. “In the Global Innovation Index, we were ranked 10th out of 130 economies in creative goods exports in 2021,” he said. “We can work together to build a vibrant, scaled-up Philippine creative economy at the forefront of the Asia-Pacific Region, driving our country’s development and enriching our culture.”
De Venecia is grateful for the support of former Speakers Lord Allan Velasco and Alan Peter Cayetano, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, his colleagues at ACCIB (Arts, Culture, and Creative Industries Bloc, Senators Koko Pimentel and Imee Marcos, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who allowed the bill to lapse into law on July 28.