Whether you’re up for a tear-jerker of heartaches and heartbreaks, the thrills of the supernatural, or just a good cackle with friends and family, the Metro Manila Film Festival always delivers and the 49th MMFF did just that before coming to a close last week.

One cause for celebration for the film industry is how the 10 festival entries raked in a record-breaking P1.07 billion as of 7 January, proving how more and more Filipinos are choosing the country’s own movies and stories to form part of their core memories.

This is a welcome recovery from the pandemic when the MMFF, although reluctant due to concerns of digital piracy, was left with no choice but to stream online to keep the show going. As expected, digital piracy ruined the show. The 10 movie entries in 2020 generated only P19 million, a very far cry from the P995 million booked the previous year.

Piracy is becoming a dangerous problem that wreaks havoc on the Philippine film industry. During the entire span of the 49th MMFF, our IP Rights Enforcement Office alone received 13 reports of links illegally streaming and offering for download the blockbuster hit movie “Rewind.” 

Although our IEO acted swiftly in coordinating with social media platforms to remove these posts, we cannot “rewind” events and take away the fact that the film failed to receive all the rewards it should have received for the hard work and creative genius of all the people who made it possible.

Now, after years of industry and government consultations, filmmakers and the creative industries have a good cause for celebration as the much-awaited site-blocking rules came into effect last 13 January.

Memorandum Circular 23-025, or the Rules on Voluntary Administrative Site Blocking, brought a landmark change to the Philippine IP landscape. With this, IPOPHL and its anti-piracy partners, such as the National Telecommunications Commission and internet service providers, are taking on a bigger role in protecting the creative industries and all its hopes to thrive more confidently in the digital space.

Along with curbing access to piracy, we are strengthening our anti-piracy awareness drive. Just yesterday, we released on social media our newest video featuring our Anti-Piracy Ambassador Matteo Guidicelli where he urges Filipinos to stream from legitimate sites. The video, which is part of our project supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization, is already on its way to going viral.

Surely, people won’t easily give up what is convenient for what is right. But we hope Filipinos take a pause and think more deeply about the atomic consequences their single action can bring.

The heart of an artist, for example, dies each time his art is stolen. When we watch pirated films, we forget that it takes a lot to produce a work of art. We forget that it takes creative prowess to shape a concept into a malleable narrative that touches our hearts and becomes a memory of a lifetime. We also forget that it takes much less to give appropriate credit to these artists.

While our newest site-blocking mechanism is truly a cause for celebration, we also understand that the crusade for greater innovation and creativity in the Philippines does not end where the laws and rules begin. It only marks the start of a journey where we protect our IP assets, our culture, and our identity under the wings of a stronger whole-of-society approach.