Creative industry on track to hit P30 billion by 2030

CEBU, Philippines — Prime movers behind Cebu’s creative industry are on track to achieve the ambitious goal of generating P30 billion in revenue by 2030.

This places Cebu and the entire Central Visayas region at the forefront of artistic and creative innovation. With the government now fully committed to harnessing the industry’s immense potential, Cebu is poised to become a thriving hub for artists and creatives alike.

“We are serious about this,” said Mario Panganiban of the Creative Entertainment Council referring to reviving Cebu’s strength in the creative sector.

Long before the government directed its attention to squeezing revenue generation of the country’s creative sector, Panganiban said Cebu has been nurturing its creative industry prompting UNESCO to designate Cebu as a world-class “Creative City” a few years back.

Panganiban added that even before the popularity of KPop, the Philippines already had a strong PinoyPop. Likewise, Cebu had a thriving CebuPop Music Festival which produced a number of prominent singers like Vina Morales.

Acknowledging that the creative industry has long been overlooked despite its potential, leaders are now taking concerted action. Both private and government sectors are coming together to shine a spotlight on this promising sector, recognizing the creative strengths not only in Cebu but also in other provinces in Central Visayas.

“We have to do a lot of preparations in the level of skills, infrastructure and investments. It should be a concerted effort by all stakeholders,” said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) regional director Maria Elena Arbon.

According to Arbon, Cebu local government’s plan to establish a “Creative District” within the City is already an added boost to the ambitious plan of creating a solid creative industry, which could lead to surpassing the issue of minimum wage.

Arbon said if the P30 billion is achieved, service providers in the creative sector will no longer bother to beg for salary increases, as this high-value job pays way more than the minimum wage.

Panganiban, who is also a member of the board of trustees at the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said that the region’s creative sector is generating an average of P500 million.

While there is still a long way to go to hit the P30 billion target, Panganiban expressed optimism that this could be achievable following the passage of RA 11904, also known as the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA).

Last September 8, 2023, Cebu launched the “FiestaKucha Cebu,” at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. “FiestaKucha Cebu” is a regional initiative by the DTI Philippines to celebrate the Philippine Creative Industries Month (PCIM), as declared by PCIDA.

Panganiban and Arbon were joined by leaders in the region’s creative sector, including globally known sustainable furniture maker and CCCI board of trustees Pedro “Pete” Delantar, 2023 PCIM National Director and DTI Competitiveness Bureau assistant director Jo-Dann Darong, along with 2023 Cebu Business Months chairman John Paul Chiongbian.

The “FiestaKucha” which will also be launched in other regions across the country, serves as a platform to celebrate and promote local creatives across various regions in the country.

The project name, "FiestaKucha," is a blend of the Filipino tradition of 'fiestas' and the Japanese storytelling style known as 'pecha kucha.' It aims to benefit local creatives and artists, contributing to both economic and cultural development.

Arbon stated that the launch marked the beginning of various events and activities showcasing creativity, artistic expression, and innovation. She expressed her pride in the local creatives and artists, and said that they have found a 'home'.

The event encompasses conferences, learning sessions, exhibitions, makeathons, and competitions, demonstrating DTI's commitment to nurturing the region's creative industries in collaboration with creative communities, groups, leaders, and champions. The launch also featured a fireside chat on the topic "Growing a Creative Industry Ecosystem in the Region.”

Participated in by representatives from different sub-sectors in the broad creative industry, Darong encouraged local creatives to 'trust the process' and highlighted DTI's efforts to promote the country as the primary 'creative hub' in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Activities announced under the FiestaKucha Cebu lineup include the Cebu Art Book Fair, Tubô Cebu Art Fair, Cebu Game Dev by the Beach, Writer Series, September Fever Music Talks, 48-Hour Film Marathon, Prelude Philippines Dance Competition, Creative Islands Fair by Cebu Literary Festival, Sketcha Kucha, and the FiestaKucha Conference.

DTI 7 also aligned its programs under the FiestaKucha celebration, including the launch of a One Town, One Product (OTOP Philippines) Hub in Ayala Center Cebu and a fabrication laboratory (Fablab) under its Shared Service Facilities (SSF) program in partnership with TESDA, both on September 26.

The month-long celebration focuses on cultural exchange, collaboration, support for emerging artists and creatives, creative entrepreneurship, and community engagement. It is expected that an impressive number of artists, visitors, viewers, and enthusiasts ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 will attend the diverse events and activities hosted at multiple locations throughout the festival.

FiestaKucha Cebu marks the first event of DTI Philippines for the PCIM celebration, to be followed by events in Davao City and Baguio City.

PCIDA, which lapsed into law on 28 July 2022, mandates the development of vibrant Philippine creative industries by protecting and strengthening the rights and capacities of creative firms, artists, artisans, creators, creative workers, indigenous cultural communities, creative content providers, and other stakeholders.

The law provides adequate support measures to the Philippine creative industries which currently face various binding constraints to growth, such as high output costs, fragmented education systems, piracy issues, lack of data and statistics, underdeveloped branding and infrastructure, and wide skill gaps and mismatch, among others.

To steer and oversee the implementation of the law, it creates the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council (PCIDC), which will be chaired by the DTI Secretary, and composed of the Secretaries of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Tourism (DOT), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); the Chairperson of the Commission of Higher Education (CHED), the Chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), and private sector representatives from various creative domains.

The law also seeks to develop and promote Philippine Creative Cities to produce more UNESCO-designated creative cities in the country like Cebu, by placing creativity and culture at the heart of local development plans and promoting the establishment of creative hubs and clusters. — (FREEMAN)