P.5M of Metro film fest profits for ‘Yolanda’ victims

The organizer of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has pledged to donate half a million pesos from this year’s box office receipts to victims of the supertyphoon which devastated several areas in the Visayas region.

“The MMFF has set aside P500,000 for Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ victims even if it has not yet earned a cent …” Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino told reporters yesterday. Tolentino is the overall chair of the annual film festival.

Tolentino said the financial assistance had already been approved through a resolution drafted by the Metro Manila Council, the policymaking body composed of mayors of the 17 local government units in the metropolis.

Yolanda which battered the Visayas region three weeks ago has affected 4.5 million people. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 7,000 people were killed while P22 billion worth of crops, houses and infrastructure was destroyed.

The 38th MMFF features eight movies which will be shown starting on Dec. 25 until the first week of January.

This is not the first time that a portion of its profits are being used to help victims of disasters. Last year, the festival’s executive committee agreed to donate a portion of the gross revenues which totaled P767 million to New Bataan, Compostela Valley and Cateel, Davao Oriental, areas devastated by Typhoon “Pablo.”