Ayuda for movie workers

By Audie See

We were among those who benefitted from the ayuda given by the Philippine government in a project dubbed as Serbisyo Caravan at the PhilSports Arena for three days-in-row from Saturday to Monday on October 12 to 14.

I belong to a group of largely showbiz reporters whose inclusion in the project was facilitated by the Movie Workers Welfare Fund, more popularly known as Mowelfund, an organization founded by then very popular and hardworking actor Joseph Estrada. The organization is currently headed by actress Boots Anson Rodrigo as chairman emeritus, with actor Rez Cortez as president and Joey Roa as executive director. Joey is a son of Boots with the late actor-TV host Pete Roa (which is why Boots is still addressed by many as Boots Anson Roa when she has long become Mrs. Rodrigo).

The group I belong to is known as The Entertainment Arts and Media (TEAM). I am actually a new member of the organization which has been in existence for 10 years now.

Mowelfund assigned TEAM to join the Caravan two Sundays ago.

Stunt doubles, background actors, and other movie industry workers received financial assistance of P5,000 each, as well as sacks of rice.

The assistance project is also known as the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF), a flagship initiative of the Marcos administration, which provided a total of P75 million worth of assistance, including cash, to workers in the creative industry, which significantly contributes to the economy’s growth.

More than 15,000 creative workers each received P5,000 plus five kilos of rice at the two-day event dubbed “Paglinang sa Industriya ng Paglikha.” Among them were the employees and staff of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Their big boss, filmmaker-educator Joey Javier Reyes, was there, too.

The assistance-giving went all the way to Monday.

Speaker Martin Romualdez is optimistic that the BPSF’s efforts toward the creative industry will pave the way for long-term benefits. In a pre-videotaped speech, he vowed that the current administration will ensure sufficient support and opportunities for the pivotal sector.

“I believe that the BPSF programs will allow more opportunities for our countrymen in the creative sector and bring a more stable future for them,” he said in Filipino/Tagalog.

Other political leaders and government officials who came from the film industry were also at the event, such as Sen. Bong Revilla and his wife, Cavite representative Lani Mercado-Revilla.

The newly appointed director-general of the Film Academy of the Philippines, filmmaker Paulo Villanueva, also graced the event. The Academy has under it several guilds whose members are film artists, writers, production designers, and technical specialists.

In addition to financial aid, the service caravan also offered a wide range of free training sessions and workshops aimed at helping those in the industry acquire crucial skills and knowledge across film, television, theater and radio.

The workshops are designed to develop expertise in arts, media, and entertainment, empowering participants to innovate and thrive in their respective fields.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment, which are among the 23 participating agencies, spearheaded the training program.

Actor-turned-lawmaker Arjo Atayde highlighted the vital role of the entertainment industry, noting that, with continuous government support, it will create more jobs and promote tourism.

In 2022, the Department of Trade and Industry reported that the creative industry made significant strides, contributing P1.60 trillion to the country’s gross domestic product, marking a substantial 12.1 percent increase from the previous year.

We were very much impressed with how the event’s staff handled the distribution of the P5,000.00 assistance for each attendee plus a 5-kilo sack of expensive aromatic rice. The distribution was very systematic and, thus, very orderly.

Actually, also on Sunday, various government agencies put up satellite offices at the event so they can assist film industry workers who need their services, such as PhilHealth, Department Foreign Affairs, the National Census and Statistics, the Social Security System, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Pag-ibig.