Taguig is the fastest growing city in NCR and in the entire country according to Mayor Lino Cayetano. And with this in mind, he believes that arts can help the city attract more talents, encourage more businesses to open, and eventually grow its economy even more.
Speaking to some members of the entertainment press, the city mayor shared an open invitation for the scribes to visit the “float-in cinema” in McKinley and the upcoming Manila Arts Fair.
“We are taking it seriously because we believe no matter how progressive we’ve become kung walang sining at kultura, balewala ang ating pinaghihirapan dahil ang sining at kutura ang ating puso,” the mayor started.
“In a few years, although malaki ang pagmamahal ko kay Mayor Joy Belmonte, we want to follow the lead of what Quezon City has been doing. In a few years, we want to turn Taguig into an entertainment city,” he carried on.
At the heart of his plan, Cayetano said that the city is establishing this year the School for the Arts.
“Taguig is the fastest growing city in Metro Manila and in the country, but we realized none of these would matter kung walang puso ang mga ginagawa natin. The city has a performance venue, so what we need are performers that’s why we are establishing this High School for the Arts to discover and hone more talents,” Cayetano, a former television director, shared.
The city mayor also cited COVID-19 as “just a detour,” and that the city and the entire country will eventually get back on track.
“The first to adapt are the first to thrive. In Taguig, we adapted early, even our COVID testing, every health center has testing [facility], and we have two drive-thru testing centers. Lahat libre. Even the businesses in Taguig are the first to adapt, for example, one of the cinemas in our city, you can now watch a film while on a boat,” he stated.
Meanwhile, complementing his younger brother’s effort, Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has drafted Department of Arts and Culture Bill, which main objective is to ensure that arts, culture, and creative industries are of “primordial importance in the priorities of the government.”
“Some of its objectives also are to nurture the development of creative talent, create opportunities for creative workers, and catalyze the growth of creative enterprises. We want to promote Filipino talent and craft around the world. Filipinos are very creative so we need to have a vision,” Rep. Cayetano said.
“If you asked the Koreans 10 or 20 years ago if they see K-Drama or K-pop to be this big, they wouldn’t be able to give you an answer, but they had a vision. After the 1997 financial crisis, they invested heavily in entertainment,” he added.
The bill is patterned after the Hallyu or the Korean Wave which refers to the phenomenal growth of Korean culture and popular culture encompassing everything from music, movies, drama to online games and Korean cuisine.
Thus, the draft bill provides comprehensive support to the industry (films, music recordings, music videos, graphics, design, native architecture, fashion designs, and live productions) through tax incentives and tax credits. There will be a separate office for Local and International Promotion of Arts and Culture Content which is also in charge of entering into partnerships with the private sector to increase support for programs and projects involving arts and culture.
“We need to have a Department of Arts and Culture or a Department of Creative Industry and Performing Arts. We can’t just limit it to arts and culture because everything is linked including the internet. ASEAN alone has more than 600 million population, what more if we include China, Japan, and India. The stage is bigger for us that’s why we have these recommendations,” he ended.