De Venecia’s two bills pass committee level
FOR MUSIC AND CULTURE
TWO more bills introduced by Fourth District Rep. Christopher “Toff” de Venecia passed the committee level in the House of Representatives following spirited debates on the “An Act Creating the Music Development Council of the Philippines” and “Act Strengthening The Conservation and Protection of Our National Cultural Heritage Through an Enhanced
Cultural Policy. Heritage, Education and Cultural Mapping Program.”
De Venecia filed the two proposed laws with support of members of the Arts and Culture Industries (ACCIB) block in Congress in the past months, closely scrutinizing the report of the Technical Working Group of the committee.
The debate on the Music Industry Bill was particularly intense over music quotas, where broadcast media would be required to allocate 30 percent of their air time for Original Pilipino Music (OPM).
The committee, chaired by De Venecia, also decided to include the traditional music of indigenous people and in every region in OPM, and thereby enjoy equal access to air time in the broadcast media.
De Venecia, an accomplished stage actor himself and grandson of the late founder of the Sampaguita Pictures, said the creation of the Music Industry Council is aimed at popularizing the country’s music internationally, as popular as the K-POP in South Korea.
Meanwhile, the Cultural Mapping Bill seeks to mandate all local government units to organize and undertake a comprehensive cultural mapping program to help boost local tourism, citing fiestas and festivals promoting local products and the culture as well as customs and traditions of communities.
Meanwhile, Congressman De Venecia thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for allocating a “Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Agraryo” project to Barangay Oraan East in Manaoag.
De Venecia joined Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriones during the groundbreaking ceremony for the project on May 6 in Barangay Oraan East, Manaoag.
While lauding the project that seeks to link agrarian reform communities to the nearest markets, De Venecia announced that he filed the Young Farmers and Fisherfolk Challenge Program bill to encourage the youth to make agriculture their source of livelihood using modern farming technology.
He added that his farm to market road projects in the Fourth District were all completed in 2020 while his river bank protection project is already 80 percent complete. (Leonardo Micua)
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