Kaibigan Dan advances movie workers’ benefits

WHen he was Manila councilor and president of the Philippine Councilors League, lawyer Dan Roleda authored and passed the Amended Amusement Tax Law in 1995 that primarily protected movie producers. The amended law ensures transparency in the ticket sales for the correct collection of the said tax by local government units, and at the same time allows movie producers accurate data on box office sales. The law made mandatory the use of transparent ticket boxes that now seen today in all theaters. The law was simultaneously passed by all local government units (LGUs) respective to Sangguniang Bayan.

Popularly called Kaibigan Dan, and one of the candidates in the senatorial derby in the mid-term elections in May, Roleda has always been linked to the entertainment industry. He worked closely with award-winning director and fellow Waray Chito Roño in the early 1980s to uplift industry standards.