CREATIVE entrepreneurs who are seeking resources to expand their projects or businesses may seek funding from the government, a lawmaker said.
In his recent visit to Cebu, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said the country has existing laws and programs to help the local creative sector flourish and become competitive in the global podium.
“We have a law. The creative industries law. It’s newly passed, so there’s all sorts of assistance that should be provided by government. Financial, incentives and capability building,” said Angara, chairman of the committee on finance of the 19th Congress.
But he requested creative entrepreneurs to be proactive and to tell the government what they exactly need.
“Under the creative law, the creative industries are part of the possible recipients. But that’s just it, sometimes there is an information disconnect. The government does not know that there are talented people here,” he said.
Angara was briefed about Cebu’s booming creative industry by Marilou Ngo-Ang, president of Magna CMGN Solutions Inc., a specialty importer and contractor of interior and exterior construction materials, quality furniture, hardware and accessories.
Magna’s showroom in Streetscape Mall in Banilad, Cebu City also houses various products of HoliCow or Holistic Coalition of the Willing. HoliCow is a sustainable furniture and housewares company based in Cebu City.
Ngo-Ang was joined by entrepreneur and feng shui expert Marites Allen in promoting Cebu’s creative scene through her collaboration with Cebuano designer Dexter Alazas.
“We need to exchange ideas,” said Angara, on how to further elevate the country’s offering to the world.
“That’s why we have the Tatak Pinoy. Tatak Pinoy advocacy promotes Philippine industries product and services to be competitive at the global level... We have to be competitive because we have a global economy,” he said.
An all-out “Tatak Pinoy” (Made in the Philippines) campaign should be pursued to create more jobs for the people, promote the Philippines’ brand as one with a strong identity, and consequently, bring the poor families out of poverty, the senator said.
Angara noted Cebu is well-placed to sustain its spot in the global creative market, especially since the province has already achieved a certain level of sophistication in all export products it sells.
“Cebu is a good example because you’ve already imbibed a certain level of complexity in your offering. So your mangoes are no longer fresh mangoes but dried mangoes... It has undergone so many level of
sophistication, many levels of value-added,” he said.
Legarda vows to help too
Meanwhile, another lawmaker has expressed her commitment to nurture local creativity.
During the 2nd Philippine Creative Industries Summit hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda reiterated that the passage of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA) “is significant, especially since our creative industries sector needs a boost from the losses they incurred because of the global restrictions imposed in 2020.”
Legarda stressed that more could be done to support and protect the country’s creative industry, mainly since such industry generated over five million jobs in 2021, or 11.6 percent of the total national employment.
She also gave importance to the creation of enabling environments and the provision of resources and opportunities for the development of creative talents.
“We can provide funding, spearhead active promotions, help develop the capacities of our artists, develop centers of creative excellence, arrange incubation spaces for Filipino creatives to collaborate and showcase the assets of the country in creative tourism while protecting our creative workers,” she said in a statement.
Legarda co-authored the PCIDA bill.
The PCIDA, which lapsed into law on July 28, 2022, mandates the development of a vibrant Philippine creative industries by protecting and strengthening the rights and capacities of creative firms, artists, artisans, creators, creative workers, indigenous cultural communities, creative content providers and other stakeholders.
The law provides adequate support measures to the Philippine creative industries which currently face various binding constraints to growth, such as high output costs, fragmented education systems, piracy issues, lack of data and statistics, underdeveloped branding and infrastructure and wide skill gaps and mismatch, among others.
The creative industries, according to the DTI, contribute almost eight percent to the economy, employing five million workers and generating exports accounting for 12 percent of the country’s total exports.
The creative industries are included in the priority industries of the DTI under its science, technology, and innovation-driven industrialization strategy, which aims to grow globally competitive and innovative industries and create more and better jobs in the country. (KOC)