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THERE has been a lot of things said and written about
how some senator wannabes are willing to resurrect the long-ailing
movie industry by looking into the possibility of revising the
tax-related provisions that allegedly cripple film producers.
Well, one particular film
producer who continues to sponsor press conferences for politicos
running for senate seats is Lily Monteverde, who, to date has
organized dinner get-togethers for the likes of Tito Sotto, Loren
Legarda, Richard Gomez, Manny Villar and Miguel Zubiri to meet with
the entertainment press.
She once said that her only
vested interest in supporting senatorial aspirants is to motivate
them to work together to pass laws that would reduce the
unreasonably high taxes levied on movie producers like her. She
claims that 51 percent of a film’s gross income goes to taxes and
producers like her are always on the losing end.
Well, it looks like the only one
among the bunch she supports who knows and understands the truth
about tax legislation is Villar. “Bills about taxes always have to
emanate from the Lower House. There are bills the Senate can
initiate but not bills about taxation,” revealed Villar to the
showbiz scribes gathered at the ballroom of the Century Imperial
Palace hotel at which the Monteverdes own.
“Soon after the elections,
perhaps the film industry people should get together with supportive
Congress men and women to work out details with them for a bill on
film taxation. Once the bill moves up to the Senate and we happen to
be there, we will work with all the other senators (that Mother Lily
has supported during this elections) in making sure that the bill
will be passed so it will give maximum benefits to the film
industry,” he added.
Villar is, of course, aware that
a proposed bill is typically deliberated on and its details hammered
out—and the deliberations in both legislative houses may yield a
proposed law that may be different from the intentions of the
original advocates of the legislative measure.
He is also very much aware that
not all cities and municipalities are willing to have their
amusement taxes on movies waived or reduced. At present, movie
producers pay 10-percent amusement tax, which is higher than the tax
paid by ‘sin’ products such as cigarettes and liquor.
Legarda, like Villar, is also
aware that the possible negative repercussions of abolishing or
reducing amusement tax on movies are yet undetailed and, thus, have
to be threshed out so they can be offset through other means.
She feels alarmed that the film
industry is on a continuous decline because of the low count of
number of films produced and the lower number of ticket sales
generated. “It is very sad that the Philippine movie industry is
one of the most heavily taxed film industries in the world,” she
said, adding, “This move has drastically reduced the number of
people employed in the entertainment business since there are lesser
and lesser productions ongoing.”
She reiterated that high taxes,
including the 12-percent value added tax, have not only increased
the production budgets in filmmaking but it also resulted to the
implementation of higher ticket prices which continues to discourage
the general public from going to the movie theaters to enjoy the
movies.
So if Monteverde’s main
intention in turning herself into a political patroness is to help
the film industry through some legislative measure, she might have
to support some congressional candidates instead of wasting her
money in sponsoring entertainment press huddles with senate
wannabes. Well, since it is still a few weeks before Election Day,
and who knows, Monteverde might yet suddenly call for another round
of dinner get-togethers, and this time, for her anointed
congressional aspirants. Such a powerful mother, huh, she’s almost
on the level of El Shaddai’s Brother Mike Velarde, don’t you
think?
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