Lower House approves bill for recovery of ailing music, film industries

by Ben Rosario, Manila Bulletin

Among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s film and music industries are the beneficiaries of tax exemptions and assistance in a bill unanimously passed on third and final reading in the House of Representatives on Monday, Jan. 17.

With Pangasinan Fourth District Rep. Christopher De Venecia as principal author, House Bill 10541 or the Film and Live Events Recovery Act will be transmitted to the Senate which has a few session days left to either adopt the De Venecia measure or pass its own version.

HB 10541 proposes to amend Section 140 of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code by reducing the amusement tax rate on gross receipts from admission fees in movies, concerts and other entertainment events identified under the law.

Under the bill, amusement tax collected by local government units will be lowered from the current ten percent to the proposed five percent.

HB 10541 also suspends for two years the power of local government to levy an amusement tax as provided under RA 7160.

Such suspension may be extended for a minimum of two years subject to the approval of the Department of Finance.

The measure also exempts from payment of amusement tax all locally-produced operas, concerts, dramas, musical plays, recitals, painting and art exhibitions, flower shows, musical programs, literary and oratorical presentations and local film productions so long as Filipinos own at least ten percent equity of such local entertainment productions.

De Venecia, chairman of the House Committee on Creative Industry and Performing Arts, filed the bill noting that the local movie industry is in grave danger as evidenced by the dismal performance of the recent Metro Manila Film Festival, which recently returned movies to the local cinemas.

“We need to embolden movie producers to keep churning out content by the very least, relaxing the 10% amusement tax levy in cinemas and earmarking collections for this purpose for the development of the Philippine Creative Industries, De Venecia said in sponsoring the bill.

De Venecia, a former actor, director and producer, is being hailed in Congress as champion of the creative industries, which include the film and music industries.