Bong Revilla wants to limit the showing of Hollywood films in the Philippines

Bong Revilla just gave you a reason not to support him

Senator Bong Revilla, producer of films that usually feature himself as the leading character, has proposed that there should only be one Hollywood movie to be shown in the country per month.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a hypothetical question was posed: What if the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) were scrapped and Hollywood films were again allowed to be shown during Christmas time? (The highly lucrative holiday play dates, which spans two weeks, are reserved for Filipino films.)

“I won’t allow that to happen,” Bong Revilla asserted. “How else can we revive the local movie industry if we give up the holiday play dates? The rest of the year, Hollywood movies beat local productions at the box office.”

If he had his way, he’d regulate the influx of foreign movies. “We should set limits, like what happened in South Korea. We should show only one Hollywood movie a month.”
He is fully aware that such a measure could prove drastic and divisive.

“A lot of people would react negatively and I know it’s against the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade),” the actor-solon said.

As producer-actor of “Ang Panday,” Revilla feels passionately about “offering viewers entertainment that’s worth their time and hard-earned money.”

He noted: “We spent over a year making ‘Panday.’ We took extra care in doing the special effects, and we had a Red camera ... the same one used in Hollywood movies like ‘Jumper’ and ‘Gamer.’” a statement counter-acted by vast number of opinions which claim that the latest Panday movie clearly and blatantly copied elements from Lord of the Rings and Dragonheart. Others claim that this movie was an embarrassment compared to the originality of the first Panday movie.

source: Inquirer