Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Tuesday urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to sign the creative industries bill into law.
Pimentel made the call after Marcos recognized the plight of the creative industry in his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) Monday afternoon.
“That creative industry bill that we signed — that we passed in the Senate and the House, nandu’n na po sa table niya (is on his table),” he said in a press conference at the Senate.
“I urge the President to sign that bill into law, ngayong araw (today), para (so) we will have this institutionalized government body or agency taking care of our creative industry,” said Pimentel.
During Marcos’ Sona, he noted that the creative industry is struggling with “workplace conditions, working hours, and intellectual property rights,” among other challenges, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President said that an institutionalized creative industry is needed to “advance the interests of its stakeholders.”
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some 865,000 entertainment and audio-visual industry workers were displaced.