TRADE Secretary Alfredo Pascual has signed the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA), the law that aims to transform the local creative industries that will help boost the country's economic recovery.
Pascual sees the signing of the IRR of PCIDA, or Republic Act 11904, as an important step toward harnessing the enormous potential of the Philippine creative industries.
"The collaborative efforts of different stakeholders in the creative ecosystem are all vital in building a vibrant and globally competitive Philippine creative economy. Hence, we have made sure that the PCIDA-IRR would be a product of synergistic discussions with other government agencies and the creative industry players," he said.
Pascual emphasized that "the signing of this IRR is an important enabling measure to effectively execute the PCIDA toward transforming the creative industries to drive our economic recovery and fuel an inclusive and sustainable growth."
Pascual said the PCIDA will create a collaborative environment for local creatives and the government. "The IRR will promote a better work environment and livelihood for creative workers, improve education and access to financial support, develop industry data and statistics for policymakers, and harness other innovation efforts to help workers and firms in the creative economy," the trade chief added.
The PCIDA, which lapsed into law on July 28, 2022, mandates the development of a vibrant Philippine creative industries by protecting and strengthening the rights and capacities of creative firms, artists, artisans, creators, creative workers, indigenous cultural communities, creative content providers and other stakeholders.
The law provides adequate support measures to the Philippine creative industries that face various binding constraints to growth, such as high output costs, fragmented education systems, piracy, lack of data and statistics, underdeveloped branding and infrastructure, and wide skill gaps and mismatch, among others.
To steer and oversee the implementation of the law, it creates the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council (PCIDC), which will be chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry and is composed of the Education, Science and Technology, Local Government and Tourism secretaries; the head of the National Economic and Development Authority; chairpersons of the Commission of Higher Education and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; director general of the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines; and private sector representatives from various creative domains.
Aside from the PCIDC, the law also mandates the development of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Plan, which shall embody several support mechanisms geared to address the specific concerns in the creative ecosystem covering infrastructure, research and development, innovation, digitalization, financing, investment and education, among others.
The law also seeks to develop and promote Philippine Creative Cities initiative by placing creativity and culture at the heart of local development plans and promoting the establishment of creative hubs and clusters. This initiative is supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Source: ManilaTimes
December 07, 2022
