Go made the statement during the distribution of financial assistance to flood victims in Mandaue City at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
He wants the MMFF to be held in the summer and in December.
The senator said he came up with the proposal long before his first term in the Senate in 2019, adding that he had always encouraged Filipinos to enjoy local films.
“This is to give a chance to those films not chosen for showing in December to be shown in the summer season… and to help revive the local film industry,” Go said in a mix of Tagalog and Bisaya.
Go pointed out that most Filipinos patronize Korean films and dramas because they are easy to access, as some are just streamed on Facebook, among others.
“Let’s help our countrymen. Let’s entice them. In fact, there are so many good local actors and actresses. The reason I was named Christopher Go was because my mother idolized Christopher de Leon,” he said in Tagalog.
“We should patronize local films and be proud of them,” he added in Tagalog.
On Wednesday, October 19, during the hearing on the budget proposal of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Senator Jinggoy Estrada received tons of backlash after floating the idea of banning Korean dramas in the country to boost the production of local quality shows.
The senator stated that most Filipinos nowadays watch Korean dramas rather than local shows.
But Estrada later clarified that he did not have any plans to file a resolution to pursue it. He said he only blurted the idea “out of frustration” because a large part of the local entertainment industry has been affected by the pandemic.
“Ang unang magagalit sa’kin diyan ‘yung nanay ko (My mother will be the first one to get angry at me) because she is an avid fan of Korean telenovelas,” he said in a TV interview.
Estrada said he supports increasing the budget of the FDCP to incentivize directors and artists who produce quality films.
The FDCP’s proposed 2023 budget is P245.35 million, lower than its budget of P282 million for 2022.
However, the Senate plenary still has to approve it. (HIC, PJB)