MANILA – The Film Academy of the Philippines has filed a temporary restraining order to prevent the National Cinema Association of the Philippines from releasing the amount representing the amusement tax or any portion thereof to Metro Manila Development Authority and Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee.
The National Cinema Association of the Philippines is represented by Dominic Du, who is also vice chairman of the Motion Picture Anti-Piracy Council.
Leo Martinez, FAP Director General, and members of the Film Academy of the Philippines trooped to the Hall of Justice inside the compound of the Quezon City Hall on January 15 to file the TRO.
Martinez said the crux of the matter is the amount of amusement tax collected by the theaters during the festival period from December 25, 2013 to January 7, 2014.
As per the forum with the FAP members, Martinez was questioning the method of computation being used by the MMFF committee in determining the amount to be distributed to the beneficiaries of the festival.
Martinez stressed that the main objective was to get a reply from MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino on the questionable computation. And the Film Academy had resorted to filing a TRO because of Tolentino’s obvious snub.
Presently, the beneficiaries of the Metro Manila Film Festival are Mowelfund, Film Academy of the Philippines, Optical Media Board, Motion Picture Anti-Piracy Council, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
There was no immediate statement from Tolentino.
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