DAVAO CITY (PIA) - During the Senate hearing for the budget of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s comment on banning Korean dramas (K-drama) in the country elicited a backlash among netizens and sparked discussions on the matter.

Though the Senator clarified he isn’t planning to file a bill of that sort but the comment during the FDCP budget hearing stemmed from his frustrations on the lack of support for the local entertainment industry.

On their visit in Davao City on Nov. 30, several popular actors shared their thoughts on the issue, and the debate on the pros and cons of banning foreign shows in a bid to prop up the film and television industry in the country.

“I think maraming malulungkot na maba-ban ang K-drama sa Philippines kasi katulad ng Hollywood movies maipapakita dito bakit ang K-drama di maipapalabas dito,” film and television actress Yasmien Kurdi said.

She added that these K-dramas were the people’s source of joy and inspiration during the darkest days of the pandemic.

“Isa ako doon na na-inspire ng K-drama,” Kurdi said.

For popular film and TV actor Alden Richards he opined that instead of banning foreign shows,the country should embrace globalization and multiculturalism.

He said the popularity of these K-drama and other foreign productions should be a source of lesson and knowledge for the Filipino entertainment industry where they can improve upon,

“Bakit hindi na lang po natin tingnan bakit ganoon kalakas sa atin ang K-Drama (Why don’t we look why the K-dramas are very popular herer), how can we help the Philippine industry to be at par with the Korean producers and Korean productions,” Richards said.

“Instead of restrictions bakit hindi nalang natin tulungan ang ating industriya para makaproduce ng ganong kaganda na mga konsepto (why don’t we just help our industry so we can produce such beautiful concepts),” Richards said.

For actor Jeric Gonzales watching foreign shows such as K-dramas helps him improve his craft as he looks up to the Korean actors for inspiration.

“Personally, kaya ako nanonood ng K-drama kasi na-i-inspire ako sa mga actors and sa story ang gagaling ng mga actors nila hindi ko sinasabi na hindi magagaling ang mga artistang Filipino pero meron sila magic na makukuha nila ang kiliti ng mga tao (I watch K-drama because I am inspired with their actors and story, their actors are so good I am not saying Filipino actors are not good but the Koreans have the magic that they can capture the audience’s tickle),” Gonzales said.

For film and television star Bea Alonzo, the entertainment industry is now more global with people easily accessing streaming services.

“It’s now inevitable to watch different Korean dramas and also dramas from China, Japan. It is now inevitable to consume because we have so many platforms aside from free TV, there’s Netflix, there’s Prime, there’s Disney Plus,” Alonzo said.

“We should embrace change, mas maging open tayo to innovation, ma-embrace natin ang change na mangyayari sa mundo (we should be open to innovation, we embrace change happening in the world),” Alonzo said.

She also added that government support is much needed in improving the entertainment industry particularly in creating content like those found in K-dramas.

The four actors were recently in Davao City to promote their show StartUp PH on GMA network which is a Filipino adaptation of a popular South Korean drama series.

Lessons from Korea

In an earlier social media post, film and television actress Liza Diño-Seguerra who was the former chairperson of the FDCP from 2016 to 2022 said the key to uplifting the Filipino entertainment industry is to learn the Korean way of doing things and to adopt their best practices.

She said the main challenge of the local entertainment industry is funding both from the private sector and the government.

“Korea thrives because there is substantial government funding to finance small to ambitious projects--from incentives to investments. Korean Film Council's budget is 5 Billion a year. Sa FDCP, I started with 76 Million in 2016, after 6 years, 290 Million a year. Still not enough,” the former FDCP chair wrote in her post.

Also, huge investments in the private sector allows their dramas to have high production value.

Diño-Seguerra also said there must be a change of mindset to help improve the industry.

Common phrases like "pwede na yan," "bahala na sa post," ito lang ang budget natin eh," and "Basta matawid natin ok na yan, maganda naman ang istorya" have become barriers to our ability to elevate our ways of making films.  We all know that we are better than what we produce, so let's invest in developing better-quality content.

She said the name of the game now is to innovate, collaborate, and elevate.

“Let's work with them not against them,” Diño-Seguerra said. (PIA/RG Alama)