Tolentino promises to champion Philippine movie industry

MANILA, Philippines – Francis Tolentino, former MMDA chairman and 2016 senatorial candidate, treated members of the entertainment press to a special dinner in Quezon City recently. Fresh from a sortie in Nueva Ecija, Tolentino announced that even if he is no longer chairperson of the Metro Manila Development Authority, he will continue to champion the Philippine movie industry. During Tolentino’s tenure at the MMDA, he headed the Metro Manila Film Festival  (MMFF) and he experienced first-hand how piracy and the influx of foreign films have resulted in huge revenue losses for the local industry.

Before heading the MMDA, Tolentino was a former OIC and mayor of Tagaytay City. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the Ateneo de Manila University and his Bachelor of Laws from the Ateneo de Manila University Law School. He later acquired a Master of Laws from the University of London with Public International Law as his specialization.

He also earned a Masters Degree in National Security Administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines, and a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University. Currently, he is a candidate for Doctor of Judicial Science (International Law) in Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. After passing the 1984 Philippine Bar Exams and the 1991 New York State Bar Exams, Tolentino worked for the Fornier and Defensor Law Offices, Padilla Law Offices  and the Freeman Law Office in New York City.

In a short after dinner program led by host RJ Ledesma and ENPRES president Jun Nardo, Tolentino shared with the entertainment press that he would make it his mission to propose and pass a Film Development Act that would provide government subsidies to local filmmakers. “It’s really important to help our Filipino filmmakers and producers as a way of encouraging them to continue making movies,” he said.

The Philippine movie industry is one of the oldest in Asia, with the earliest movies shown at the Salon de Pertierra in Escolta during the last vestiges of Spanish rule in 1897. By the early 1900s, inspired by zarzuelas and Hollywood, Filipinos started producing their own movies launching a new art form that our countrymen will love through the generations.

Under Tolentino’s proposal, local film makers get encouragement from the government via tax incentives, technical and promotional support and strengthened anti-piracy laws.