CCCI pledges support for creative sector

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has formally signed a deal of support with the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI).

The two organizations signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Tuesday, October 5, 2021, to cooperate in the development of the industry.

Both CCCI and ACPI aim to help Cebu contribute 10 percent to the country’s Creative Entertainment Industry, initially targeting around P500-million for Cebu alone.

CCCI will conduct activities that promote the creative entertainment sector as well as create an ecosystem to promote and support the creatives.

It will also help promote Cebu and the Philippines as a premier site for the development, sale, and distribution of animation products in Asia.

ACPI, on one hand, will coordinate with CCCI in providing training and upskilling opportunities to artists, animators and other relevant talents in the animation sector.

The council will also facilitate connecting Cebuano players to the International Animation Industry Development Pipeline, and assisting in the set up and organization of trade missions.

“We hope that the partnerships we have will open countless opportunities for our creatives in making Cebu a creative entertainment hub in the country,” said CCCI president Felix Taguiam.

For his part, Juan Miguel Del Rosario, President of ACPI and Toon City (Morph Animation Inc.), stressed the potential of Filipinos as far as the creative industry is concerned.

“It’s really in the DNA of Filipinos to produce world-class artistry. I’m very, very proud of that. This is the reason why we at ACPI, are advocating countryside development of animation studios. We want studios to go outside of Manila because we want to say that Manila does not have the monopoly of artistic capability,” Del Rosario pointed out adding that even Japan is waiting for the Philippines.

“There has been a study made by Japan about the potential of the Philippines working for Japanese anime. And there’s none of that in Manila, except for TOEI Philippines. Let’s make Cebu the anime capital of Asia,” Del Rosario said.