MANILA – The guidelines of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in regulating film and other audiovisual (AV) production shoots amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic may still be fine-tuned, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this assurance after veteran directors and producers expressed concerns over some of the provisions in the FDCP guidelines particularly on being required to provide some details seven days before the shoot.
“Titingnan po natin kung merong dapat repasuhin dito (We will see if there are provisions that need to be fine-tuned),” Roque said in a virtual presser.
Roque confirmed that the guidelines will be implemented after receiving approval from the National Administrative Registry of the University of the Philippines (UP) Law Center.
However, he said the guidelines could still be updated after more consultations with government agencies and industry stakeholders are made.
“Magkakaroon po ng mas mahaba pang usapin sa panig po ng [Departments of Labor and Employment, Trade and Industry, and Health] at yung mga stakeholders po sa ating film at TV industry (There will be longer consultations involving the DOLE, DTI, DOH, and stakeholders in the film and TV industry),” he said.
The guidelines on film and AV production shoots are stipulated under an administrative order issued jointly by the FDCP, the DOH and DOLE, particularly on the mandatory report on production shoots seven days before the activity.
On Wednesday, Roque said statute and executive orders that created the FDCP do not give it regulatory powers, which means it should be the DTI and the Department of Education (DepEd) in charge of sponsoring its guidelines. The FDCP is an attached agency of the DepEd.
“I had questions about the alleged guidelines, which they have issued to govern the resumption of work in the film industry, noting that the statute and executive orders that created the council did not give it regulatory powers,” Roque said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
He said the DTI and DepEd have overall supervision over the FDCP and should sponsor the guidelines on film and other AV production shoots.
“Therefore, it should probably be the DTI or the Department of Education, believe it or not, because the statutory basis points to overall supervision by the Department of Education that should sponsor any guidelines that would govern the film industry under quarantine,” he said.
Earlier, the Directors Guild of the Philippines Inc. urged DOLE, DOH, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, and all other regulatory arms of government to consult industry stakeholders directly on deliberations on regulatory matters instead of through the FDCP, “which does not necessarily represent film workers or producers regarding their positions on regulatory matters.”
FDCP chair Liza Diño insisted that consultations were made among agencies and industry stakeholders to “introduce” the initiative of the FDCP to implement health and safety protocols.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also emphasized the need to hold consultations with other sectors to promote health and to ensure that all people are safe amid the prevailing pandemic.
Amid criticism over the joint administrative order requirement to submit a report on production shoots seven days before the shoot, she said it is necessary to ensure easier contact tracing.
Diño, meanwhile, appealed to industry stakeholders to support the FDCP’s initiative which intends to comply with the health and safety protocols.