October 9, 2012
Hon. Cesar Jalosjos
Chairman
Committee on Government Reorganization
House of Representatives
Quezon City
Dear Chairman Jalosjos:
This pertains to your letter dated September 10, 2012 requesting our position on House Bill 5779 – Creating the Design Council of the Philippines.
The Philippines is blessed with a wealth of creative industries and subsectors such as advertising, animation, architecture, broadcast arts, crafts, culinary arts, cultural/heritage activities, design, film, literature, music, new media, performing arts, publishing, and visual arts, all in which many Filipinos have excelled and made their marks. Filipinos enjoy a well-deserved international reputation for creativity, design skill, and artistic talent.
Each of these industries has high potential to move the Philippines to the forefront of international creative and design affairs, making the Philippines a major creative and design destination for many international businesses. It is for this reason that we support the promotion of a design-driven economy by investing in the Philippine creative capital.
Focusing on the establishment and cultivation of a “creative economy” will surely lead to wealth generation and job creation through the exploitation of intellectual property and the marketing of trade of creative, artistic works and designs.
The first step by which the proposed Design Council Bill intends to actualize this agenda is through the consolidation of all creative industries in the country which, as mentioned in part of the Arangkada Philippines 2010 on Seven Big Winner Sectors (https://arangkadaphilippines.com/beta), “cuts across multiple economic sectors and does not yet constitute a cohesive or distinct sector in the traditional sense of an industry cluster. In order to nurture the creative industries, it is vital to recognize and improve its entire landscape.” The proposed legislation intends to do this through a comprehensive industry and sector mapping.
The passage of this legislation would also lead to the inculcation of the concept of “creating or designing for value” among Filipino artists, creators and designers, considering emphasis is being put on particular areas of concern, i.e., “their work must be capable, through innovation on multiple levels, of contributing to creating new economic value”, and for those dabbing in technology “an ability to understand technological opportunity and act upon the same.”
Lastly, the Philippines would definitely be a creative and design stalwart in the global arena once the following issues are addressed:
- Development of a Creative and Design Industries Master Plan,
- Establishment of a Creative Industries and Design Development Council,
- Institutionalization of the showcasing of talent and releasing budgeted funds for trade shows and sub-sector specific congresses,
- Protection of intellectual property,
- Promotion of the interchange of international design ideas, while informing potential investors of opportunities in the Philippines,
- Improvement in the design curriculum and training facilities to foster talent development and entrepreneurial skills, and
- Expanding the Philippine design talent pool by making better opportunities available to Filipino designers working abroad.
Filipinos already have the skills, talents, and ingenuity needed to be economically successful, the government only need to organize, consolidate, and channel them to harness their maximum potential for the country.
We support the passage of the Design Council bill (HB 5779) in hope that one day the Philippines will become the leading “design hub” of Asia. We would be glad to participate in a committee hearing your committee intends to conduct on this vital legislation.
JFC Letter to QC Rep. Cesar Jalosjos on HB 5779 Creating the Design Council of the Philippines
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