Atty. Don Artes, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), advocated for the annual holiday film festival to be recognized as a national event rather than just a local one. 

Following an assessment of the annual MMFF, Artes believes this change would help resolve issues related to theater assignments for the film entries.

"I think it's about time na gawing national itong MMFF at huwag na siyang ilimit sa Metro Manila. Kung gagawing national ito, mako-control ang mga sinehan. (I think it's about time to make this MMFF national and stop limiting it to Metro Manila. If it's made national, the distribution of theater assignments will be controlled)," Artes said, during an exclusive interview for the online entertainment program "Meet The Press" led by journalist and talent manager Noel Ferrer, Marinel Cruz (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Nathalie Tomada (The Philippine Star) and Robert Requintina (Manila Bulletin). The full interview powered by Podcast Network will be uploaded on Spotify on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Artes added: "Magiging equal ang distribution (sinehan) at mako-control ang sinehan sa buong Pilipinas. Kung gagawing national ito, time na rin na ilipat ito sa isang national government agency. Ang jurisdiction kasi talaga namin is National Capital Region lang. (The distribution (theaters) will be equal and the cinema will be controlled throughout the country. It's time to transfer this to a national government agency if this is made national. Our jurisdiction is only the National Capital Region)

The MMFF chief stated that discussions about transferring the film festival could take place later this year, ahead of the 51st MMFF.

"Pwedeng i-consider. We will make the necessary recommendations sa Malakanyang to open the discussion regarding making the MMFF national instead of limiting it to Metro Manila para ma-address natin ang concern. (It can be considered. We will make the necessary recommendations to Malacañang to open the discussion on making the MMFF national instead of limiting it to Metro Manila so that we can address the concern)," said Artes when asked if the discussions on the transfer of MMFF to a national government agency can be done later this year.

Artes also said that the staging of the 50th MMFF was successful.

"It's successful. All the events related to the 50th MMFF were successful. Many people are saying we elevate the quality of the entries. Magaganda ang lahat ng entries at pinag-isipan. In general, it's successful. (It's successful. All the events related to the 50th MMFF were successful. Many people are saying we elevate the quality of the entries. All the entries are beautiful and well thought out. In general, it's successful.)

"But if our basis is the gross receipts, medyo hindi natin naabot. One of our assessments is that siguro nabawasan ang mga tao ng budget sa panonood ng movies. Pero successful naman kasi so far naka more than P700 million na tayo sa of Jan. 7 and I think we will hit around P800 million before Jan. 14. (But if our basis is the gross receipts, we haven't quite reached it. One of our assessments is that maybe people's budget for watching movies has decreased. But it's been successful because so far, we've made more than P700 million as of Jan. 7, and I think we will hit around P800 million before Jan. 14.)

Another factor would be the lack of family-oriented films this year, he said. "Wala ka talagang masasabi na pambatang pelikula. Wala talaga kaming nakita sa scripts or sa finished fillms na masasabi nating pambata like fantasy." (We did not see anything in the scripts or finished films that were intended for children.)

"What happened to 'Rewind' was extraordinary. Nag-hit talaga siya. Yung mga tao nagpunta talaga sa sinehan para manood. Marami rin namang movies na equally-good like 'Rewind.' Marami rin naman kumitang pelikula unlike 2023. Mabibilang mo lang talaga ang kumita. And then marami pa rin foreign films kaya nabawasan talaga ang budget ng mga manonood. (What happened to 'Rewind' was extraordinary. It was a real hit. People really went to the cinema to watch it. There were also many movies that were equally good like 'Rewind.' There were also many movies that made money unlike 2023. And then there were still many foreign films so the budget of the audience had really decreased.)

"Ang batayan ko ng success is yung hindi isa lang ang kumita ng malaki. Ngayon scattered yung kumita. There were five to six that did well at the box office. (My basis for success is that not just one movie made significant profits. In fact, there were five to six movies that performed well at the box office)," Artes said.

"Rewind," an entry for the 2023 MMFF starring real-life couple Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes, earned P924 million in box office. It was the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time until "Hello, Love, Again" surpassed it in November 2024.

Artes mentioned that he was not bothered when Vice Ganda, star of the hit movie "And the Breadwinner Is ..." humorously commented on his special jury award during the 2025 Gabi ng Parangal.

"Hindi naman ako naapektuhan noong nagbiro si Vice Ganda kung ano raw ang special jury award. Deserve niya yun dahil he went out of the box. Hindi lang kasi nabasa ng presenter kung ano yung award. Nasa card naman yung explanation bago yung name ni Vice. Nagkaroon lang ng kalituhan. (I wasn't affected when Vice Ganda joked about what the special jury award was. He deserved it because he went out of the box. The presenter just didn't read what the award was. The explanation was on the card before Vice's name. There was just confusion)," Artes explained.

On the holding of the 2025 Summer Film Festival, Artes said: "We will meet to discuss it. The challenge is kung kaya ba natin ng same level ng 50th like promotion and activities. Kasi kung itutuloy natin at hindi natin siya ma ma-mount like the 50th, baka naman sabihin ng industry bakit parang second-rate lang ang Summer Film Festival. If we have one, we want the same intensity. (We will meet to discuss it. The challenge is whether we can have the same level as the 50th, like promotion and activities. Because if we continue and we can't mount it like the 50th, the industry might say why the Summer Film Festival seems second-rate. If we have one, we want the same intensity.)