MANILA, Philippines—“Aliw!” What fun!

“The Eraserheads by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra! I really believe the Eraserheads should be National Artists,” said a gleeful and amused Jed Segovia.

The 24-year-old artist was in serious-chic suit, his first, bought only a week before to wear to this fashion show at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) that would marry high fashion and the arts.

It was the young man’s first fashion show. To him, the novel experience would be a mating of fashion, the arts—and Pinoy pop rock.

Segovia was one of the more than 700 guests who trooped to the CCP on Tuesday to watch “Face Off,” a fashion show featuring the collections of three contemporaries—Randy Ortiz, Rhett Eala and Rajo Laurel.

The designs were paraded to live music by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the first time in recent years for the orchestra to perform in a fashion show.

As soon as the PPO played the national anthem, the suspense and tension in the jostling (more like negotiation) for front-row seats were swept away. That was how stirring the moment was—the majesty and pomp of the anthem, the physical closeness of the tuxedoed orchestra members to the audience.

In a smooth flow, the PPO, under the baton of resident conductor Agripino Diestro, played “Saranggola ni Pepe,” “Pink Panther theme,” “Pizzicato Caprice,” “Buglers Holiday,” “Eraserheads Suite,” “Hooked on Classics” and “Katutubong Awitin.”

Musical experience

It was probably the first time for some of the teens and the 20-somethings in the audience to set foot at the CCP, and for many in the audience, perhaps the first time also to watch the PPO perform, however briefly.

Which must have been why many were left in awe of the orchestral music talent before them. To these young Filipinos, the experience was glorious, if not glamorous.

Yet the evening’s glamour and glitz belied the persistent hand-to-mouth existence of the arts in the country, though the glamour of the exercise was probably the last thing on the minds of the PPO musicians.

While subsidized by the CCP and relatively secure in their employment, the PPO musicians certainly could use a thriving audience. And artists, particularly from the performing arts, could use a thriving profession.

Plight of artists

CCP president Nestor Jardin has pointed out that perhaps the plight of the country’s artists would not be so ignored if only they could be seen as an economic unit—recognized for their economic contribution.

The “Face Off” fashion show staged by Inquirer Lifestyle with Samsung brought to the fore the CCP, and with it, the PPO. It was a good occasion to present so much little-known data.

An informal study by the Creative Industry Task Force has revealed that the creative industry contributes about 5 percent to the gross domestic product.

The task force is composed of representatives from the CCP, the Department of Trade and Industry and its international exhibition arm, the Center for International Trade, Expositions and Missions (Citem), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the heads of various cultural and creative organizations.

It was formed mainly to conduct an industrial mapping of the country’s artists, craftspeople and professionals in order “to convince the government that we exist, so they could institute policies accordingly,” Jardin said.

Creative subsectors

The task force, which held a forum two years ago, defined the creative industry as consisting of those economic activities that capitalize on creativity and cultural content, producing goods and services with cultural and social value.

Culture tourism, including the hotel or culinary arts profession, for instance, is a subsector of this industry.

Chefs are, therefore, considered part of the creative industry, along with visual artists and designers (fashion, furniture and interiors, etc.), artists from the performing arts, theater, music, dance, film, broadcast or TV, new media (Internet, mobile), the literary arts, publishing (magazines, newspapers and periodicals).

The output of this industry is covered by intellectual property rights and considered of cultural value.

In New York City, the creative work force provided the strongest area of economic growth. From 1998 to 2002, it grew by 13.3 percent, with 32,000 jobs added, compared to the 6.5 percent increase of the city’s overall job total.

The task force also learned that in Europe and Asia (led by Singapore and Thailand), governments already recognize this creative industry.

Unrecognized in RP

“As early as the 1980s, many governments, such as Britain, recognized that there had been a whole new economy emerging since the 1960s, characterized by output of human activities—created not by machines,” Jardin explained.

“The British government did a culture industry mapping, and was surprised that collectively, artists and creative people contributed 8.5 percent to the gross domestic product,” he said.

“With such recognition came appropriate government support through policies, infrastructure, even human resource programs.”

Jardin noted that the Philippines must be the only country in Asia that did not recognize its creative industry. Thailand has a One Community-One Product project where skills—from trade to quality control to marketing—in a community are given support to develop, and are linked to tourism.

Ten years ago, Singapore already planned its creative industry by identifying its areas of strength (fashion, graphic and industrial design, media) that would not be swallowed up by the onslaught of mass manufacturing from China.

Korea is the perfect example of a country that capitalized on its creative industry to boost the economy, with its Korean telenovela, medicine and even cuisine.

Telenovela tourism

“Think of the PR and promotion these telenovelas have created for Korea. Not only did they boost tourism in Korea—you have regular HK tour groups, for instance, visiting telenovela sites—they’ve even improved the image of Korean men. Now women want to marry Korean men, thanks to the good-looking Korean telenovela actors,” Jardin said, half in jest.

Korea has a content agency that researches traditions, folklore and the arts, and how these can be incorporated in popular media and entertainment—again in aid of culture tourism.

The Creative Industry Task Force aims to validate the figures that would measure the industry’s contribution to the gross national product, and to lobby with government to institute a national plan for the development of human resource, infrastructure support and policies.

At the lower entrance of the CCP the morning of “Face Off,” we saw a middle-aged man with a bandaged arm, chatting with another man. Must have been about benefits, we thought. They could have been artists, and they looked a sad sight.

In a country that has yet to take care of its artists, that sight was a world away from the glamour of the evening ahead.