Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Facebook)






Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda is convinced that Philippine talents or "creatives" have a future in streaming services. That is, if they can get ample protection from the Intellectual Property Code. “The future of Philippine creatives, and Philippine entertainment in particular, is streaming. That kept K-pop alive when we couldn’t do concerts during Covid-19," Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means. "It has become the dominant sector in entertainment in the West. That’s what we should look to. That’s what we should protect,” Salceda said. The economist-congressman continued: “As incomes grow, so too will demand for this form of entertainment. People are obviously willing to pay, as seen in the growth of subscriptions to companies like Netflix. And as soon as we produce quality content, we will see demand for Philippine streaming.” “But if we cannot protect programs for streaming in the infancy of Filipino streaming – we will see this industry die before it gets its chance to flourish.” Citing official estimates from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which indicate that the digital creatives sector recorded the slowest employment growth among creatives subsectors at 4.5 percent (with total sector growth to have been at 10.5 percent) from 2021 to 2022, Salceda sounded the alarm that “online creatives could continue growing the slowest or even shrink if we cannot protect it". Simply put, he said online piracy "will kill digital creatives...that’s an existential threat to the entire creatives sector". "If we don’t find a way to respond to this threat, we can say goodbye to the future of streaming and digital content creation in the country,” he noted. There's a solution in the form of House Bill (HB) No.7600, says Salceda. He is the principal author of the measure, which is known as the proposed Act strengthening the powers and functions of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, amending for the purpose Republic Act (RA) No. 8293, as amended, otherwise known as the “ Intellectual Property Code Of The Philippines". He said that currently, there is no law setting aside the issue of due process and allowing the blocking of sites deemed detrimental to legitimate ones. “That’s why we need to clarify in the intellectual property code how to do this. How to complain. How to hear the complaint. How to appeal. How to execute judgment. It’s time to pass an online site blocking law that respects due process," he explained. The Bicolano is hoping that the measure would prosper in the 19th Congress. "I am almost certain the House will pass the measure. I’m hoping our counterparts in the Senate see the wisdom and the urgency in the proposal. The streaming sector is in its infancy. Online site blocking is child immunization," he stressed.