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| Image from Wikipilipinas |
1) Creating financial incentives to help efforts of komiks creators might sound like a good idea in general, but some of the language of the bills strikes me as a tad old-fashioned. From the later Senate bill:
Komiks has been the champion of the masses: political, sociological, and financial issues; the mirror of the country's times: dreams and disillusions, passions, and fashions; cultural anchor: a gentle reminder of our heritage and values; and a teacher as it contributes to the propagation of the Pilipino language in a country of more than 70 languages, thereby strengthening the Filipino race and the national language.
Sadly, with the advent of computer games, compact discs, digital video discs, and the internet, the local komiks industry suffered. Moreover, the best illustrators in the local komiks industry have been lured by the high pay they received in the United States. Thus, the joy of reading komiks has been set aside and, as a consequence, results in the twin evils of diminishing readership and illiteracy.
There's a bit of nostalgia for those good old days when komiks was a major publishing venture, mixed with economic protectionism, and a bit of nationalist boosterism for good measure. But nothing in the bill shows any forward thinking about how to respond to comics increased internet presence, its growth as a digital medium, the massive popularity of manga, or the protection of free speech and artistic expression. When looked in the context of the anti-child pornography bill passed last year, there's not a lot in the bill to prevent at least some komiks from being used as a form of government propaganda.
2) The mandating that 10% of printed educational material be komiks dredges up personal memories of attending elementary school religion classes: Komiks were a regular part, actually a big part, of moral and spiritual instruction. I don't know if that was a quirk of the particular school I attended, and in truth I remember next to nothing about the content of the stories. It's been awhile since I've been to a Filipino school. But I think they made more of an impression (both bad and good) than the regular textbooks. This was a private school, and most private schools are still religious in their affiliation.
3) Komiks was no more recognized as a legitimate artform during its heyday by the general public than when Jack Kirby was toiling away at Marvel Comics at the height of his professional career. Komiks continues to be a marginal presence, often obscured by the current influx of American and Japanese imports. And those foreign products in themselves aren't usually treated as legitimate artistic works. It's understandable if people act a little defensively about komiks vis-a-vis other comics traditions. But if komiks wants to be recognized as a worthy artistic medium, there needs to be some maturation within local fandom itself in their overall perception of the comics medium.
4) Given the heavy-handed, values-laden rhetoric that characterizes Filipino politics, I'm not sure I want the government too involved with my beloved medium. While I like the idea of tax breaks and other financial incentives, I'm concerned about the censorship that inevitably follows when local politicians become interested in mass media (Such as in the Filipino film industry, which the bill mentions as a sterling example of effective government support. Komiks has also had its own version of the Comics Code Authority). It's a dilemma that Filipino creators are going to be concerned about.
