Camarines Sur Rep. Lray Villafuerte on Sunday said a technical working group (TWG) has already been formed by the House special committee on the creative industry and performing arts to consolidate three measures aiming to grant cash incentives plus other non-monetary benefits to filmmakers, literary writers, and performing artists who have given honor to the Philippines via their creative works that have won formal international acclaim.
The TWG has started working on a substitute bill to combine the provisions of House Bill 1281 or the Creative Philippines Act, HB 4540 or An Act Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Filipino Artists, Providing Benefits and for Other Purposes and HB 1934 or The Artists’ Incentives Act.”l
HB 1934, for one, has proposed a tax-free cash award of P500,000 to P1 million to Filipino creative artists who have won top awards in international film festivals or award-giving institutions, said Villafuerte, who is one of the four authors of this bill.
“The international awards bestowed upon the works of our Filipino artists call for appropriate government acknowledgment,” he cited.
“With this measure, our artists will surely be encouraged to engage in various forms of arts to represent the country and further hone their skills and craft in the various arts,” he noted.
He authored HB 1934, one of these three measures up for consolidation by the House special committee on creative industry and performing arts with fellow Camarines Sur Representatives Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, and Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII.
“Towards this end,” they said “the State shall extend its support to filmmakers, film production entities, literary writers, artists, and performers in the creative sector by providing incentives based on international recognition and merit in order to encourage the creation of more high-quality works of art, which, in turn, shall elevate the stature of the country in the world’s stage.”