Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 9) — The Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media will hold a hearing on the bill seeking to create an archive facility for local films and a management body ensuring its preservation.
The hearing will be held on Monday, according to Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who filed the bill in the upper chamber.
“This bill aims to address this problem by creating NFAP (National Film Archive of the Philippines), which will ensure the protection and preservation of Filipino films that are part of our historical and cultural heritage,” Estrada said Sunday in a statement.
Passed into law in 2002, Republic Act 9167 mandates the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) to create a film archive, but Estrada said the agency has yet to establish a permanent and sufficient space and allot proper equipment for film preservation.
Citing data from the FDCP, Estrada said 65% of the country’s cinematic heritage was either lost or destroyed.
“It is estimated that out of more than 8,000 movies shot on film, only around 2,000 have surviving copies,” he added.
During the hearing, the upper chamber will also review Senate Bills 1032 and 2250.
SB 1032, or the World-Class Filmmakers’ Incentives Act, aims to promote local films and support their production through incentives and tax exemptions.
http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3898435435!.pdf
Meanwhile, SB 2250 proposes to declare September as Philippine Film Industry Month.
