RIDING the jeepney to school the other day, I happened to hear a peculiar piece of eyebrow-raising news on the radio.
In the radio program, a very hysterical DJ was talking about the restoration of the decayed and dying Metropolitan Theater, located just below the LRT station in Lawton. The DJ was saying that the repairs would cost several millions (or was it billions?) of peso, and it would take approximately two years to restore the theater to its former pre-war glory days when, as they say, it had seen better plays.
Now, the news itself was not strange. Restorations of buildings and other landmarks are a common thing in this country. What confounded me was the fact that, given the state of the global financial market and the threat of a recession hitting the Philippines soon, the timing of the expensive restoration of a theater seems to be a tad off in the equation.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but ask any economist about who should get the smallest slice of the government budget and the answer would be “arts and culture.” The reason for this is that people want to know their money is being used to help others, and thus a huge part of the taxpayer’s and donor’s money goes to social services, health or security.
Hearing about the restoration of the Metropolitan Theater made me think of how the art industry in the country is faring amid the bane of recession, and whether or not it will weather the storm and survive. Paradoxically, the art industry in the Philippines seems to be on an all-time high boon nowadays. Art exhibits and art shows seem to be sprouting everywhere like mushrooms on steroids. The once dull and empty lobbies of some malls are now filled with colorful canvases or photo exhibits that seem to entice passers-by to take a break from their shopping and feed their soul with some culture.
Even cinema itself is thriving, as stated by indie-filmmaker Brillante Mendoza during the Cinevita open-forum last Feb. 27. Philippine cinema seems to be enjoying a prosperous time wherein independent filmmakers are received warmly by the public for their avant-garde ideas. Unlike a few years back when indie films were as popular as warts, people now flock and celebrate indie film festivals like Cinemalaya and the university’s own Cinevita. What is more is that the youth seems to be enchanted, albeit infatuated, with the concept of pitching their message to the public via an indie film, the best part being no one is there to tell them off.
Shameless plugs asides, the art industry is indeed on a steady rise, but for how long? Experts say that the full brunt of the recession would hit the Philippines during the middle of the year. And when that happens, it is likely that art museums and art institutions would be forced to shut down.
Already, many museums in the United States have temporarily ceased operations due to lack of funds brought about by the recession. The same thing could also happen to the Philippines, maybe even worst in our case. Just think what a dreary year it would be without the stories of Cinemalaya stimulating our mind, or without the free exhibits and free concerts held all throughout the metro. (How ever will cheapskates like me survive?)
This doomsday scenario for the art institutions can be avoided, however. All it takes is good management and saving for that proverbial rainy day. But this is not a foolproof plan, and many art institutions will still feel the cash strain partly due to donors choosing to support NGO’s and social-service needs instead. What art groups can do to survive is to cooperate with these groups in tie-up projects so that, instead of competing for fund from donors, they “complement each other instead,” as stated by the US group Alliance for the Arts.
And as for the government pouring a ridiculously large amount of money into the renovation of the Metropolitan Theater? It is a commendable job, but the whole thing should be reviewed and reevaluated. The time for unnecessary repairs is not now; instead the government should be saving up the money, to be used later as a cushion for the tough times the country is about to face.
