A PRIMER ON THE
ARTISTS’ RIGHTS AND WELFARE
for the
Caucus of Music Theater Directors and Choreographers
IKATLONG TAGPO: The 2004 National Theater Festival
Cultural Center of the
INTRODUCTION
This project is being undertaken in conjunction with the 2004 National Theater Festival (NTF 2004) of the
One of the envisioned key result areas of NTF 2004 is the “active participation of key players in the local music theater in the formulation of guidelines and standards of employment.”
To come a step nearer this aim, NTF 2004 has included as a festival activity a Caucus on Artists’ Rights and Welfare, with a view towards forming an organization.
This Primer is the reference material for that caucus to be held on
In coming up with this Primer, this project conducted two Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) attended by directors and choreographers of music theater. It became inevitable that other theater artists and workers also joined in. In the FGDs, the major issues confronting artists were surfaced.
The project initiated a written survey among music theater artists.
The project also held consultations with experts in order to solicit their opinions. These included lawyers on labor and taxation and other legal counsels, officials of government agencies involved with labor relations, social security and copyrighting. They explained the legal and institutional policies and premises – or the lack of these -- relating to artists’ rights and welfare.
Early on, the project made known its intention to convene a Caucus on Artists’ Rights and Welfare focusing on music theater directors and choreographers. The underlying reason is to make the project manageable given the limited time and resource. Focusing on the directors and choreographers will also mobilize a sector that might be influential in replicating the effort in the other sectors of the performing arts community.
CHRIS B. MILLADO
Festival Director
2004 National Theater Festival
Associate Artistic Director
Performing Arts Department
Cultural Center of the
MARILIE FERNANDEZ-ILAGAN
Project Director
Caucus on Artists’ Rights and Welfare
2004 National Theater Festival
Cultural Center of the
November 2004
PART 1
Situation of Artists and their Rights and Welfare:
Major Points Raised in the FGDs and
Consultations with Experts on Labor, Taxation, Copyright and Social Security
The situation as described here is based on the two Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) participated in by artists and the series of consultations with the experts on labor, taxation, social security, copyright and other legal counsels held last October and early November.
Historically, artists have always been marginalized in terms of government support and other institutional assistance. They are overworked and underpaid. Their rights and welfare are nonexistent.
Since no employee-employer relationship exists for theater artists at work, they could not avail themselves of the benefits that are otherwise available to regular workers under the Labor Code. Artists are considered seasonal employees or contractual workers. When they work in a production, what they enter into is a private contract between two parties. It is governed by the Civil Code -- a generic law that does not address the specific demands of artists as one type of worker.
Under this setup, artists do not have the power to bargain collectively. Therefore, it is difficult to set standard compensation for their services as one type of workers or employees. Their employers are also not bound by law to provide them with the welfare benefits that are offered to regular workers under the Labor Code.
In this situation, artists:
- have difficulty setting their rates or pay scale;
- undervalue their works or services;
- work overtime without any corresponding compensation;
- are overworked;
- cannot demand for increased rates especially when companies claim that they couldn’t afford it;
- are unable to address medical and retirement needs;
- find it more difficult to sustain their theater groups;
- have to find other work to support the practice of their art and craft.
Compounding the situation are the following facts:
- Only .28% of the total government appropriation is allotted as budget for culture and the arts (based on the Philippine Medium Term Plan for Culture and the Arts assessment, 1992/2000 Report); this, despite a UNESCO resolution that “in every country, every year, at least 1% of the total public funds should be allocated to artistic activities of creation, expression and dissemination” (Final Declaration of the World Congress on the Status of the Artist, June 1997).
- Most artists’ organizations operate below subsistence, in spite of the government’s policy to encourage and support the arts.
- Government will not lift a finger for artists unless artists cause government to do so.
Artists are immensely distressed by economics and social welfare insecurity – rate of fees, working conditions, medical expenses, housing, retirement insurance, etc. Among these concerns, standardization of rates seems to be the most urgent.
But even as this situation prevails, there is a consensus that artists are barely aware of what ails them and their working environment, and what courses of action they may take. Considering that some 2.5 million compose the artists’ sector in the country, there is a great need for:
- education among the artists in the matter of their rights and welfare;
- organizing within the sector;
- advocacy work -- artists conducting a campaign so that the public and the concerned institutions may better appreciate their worth in terms of economic figures and social values;
- lobbying and legislation regarding artists’ rights and welfare.
There are initial indications that in Philippine theater, it is music theater that appears to have the potentials to becoming an industry. And it is in this regard that the issue of compensation and conditions of employment could be standardized sooner than in the other types of theater and fields of art.
PART 2
In the Know: Terms Defined and Questions Answered
1. Why organize artists for their rights and welfare?
Artists deserve an enlivening working environment, just compensation and a secure future.
2. What are rights and welfare?
‘Rights’ refers to anything that may be claimed on righteous and proper grounds, which may be just, moral, legal or customary. As expressed in laws or statutes, these may be constitutional, civil, humanitarian, etc.
‘Welfare’ refers to social and economic well-being, as in food, health, clothing.
There are economic and political factors involved in ‘rights and welfare.’ The right to just compensation is fundamentally economic. The right to free speech is basically political.
‘Rights and welfare’ is used here in conjunction with our role and work in society as practitioners of the arts.
3. What is the government pronouncement on artists’ rights and welfare?
Government ensures “the protection of rights and welfare of artists and cultural workers.” It declares that “(v)ital to the interest of (its) cultural agencies, organizations and artist’s community is the protection of their rights and welfare. Since culture and arts activities are basically service oriented rather than financially beneficial, it is important that the government provides the legislative support for the necessary protection.”
4. What is there in the law that affects the rights and welfare of artists?
First of all, the Constitution provides for the recognition of culture and the arts, that culture and the arts have evolved to define our identity, that culture and the arts have to be promoted by the State.
The Constitution also provides for the freedom of speech which bars, in theory, censorship. Another is the charter of the NCCA which is mandated by Republic Act 7356. There is also the Intellectual Property Code that includes the law on copyright. We have the tax code that includes the VAT law and the local tax laws.
5. Is there any law or regulation that provides for a standard or scheme for the payment of talent fees or
service fees of artists?
There is none. Work contracts of artists are governed by the law on contracts, which is a private agreement between two parties. In effect, compensation is always negotiated between two contracting parties. There is neither a set minimum wage nor a tripartite wage board.
6. Is there anything under the law that artists may avail of to secure their rights and welfare in
connection with their work?
There is, again, the NCCA law. We need to be more aware of the NCCA and the law that created it. For instance, the NCCA has an artists’ legal services section that was set up for mediation purposes.
It is observed, however, that the NCCA law does not provide for specific mechanisms.
7. Is there any tax exemption or special tax provision for artists?
If one is looking for a comprehensive tax law for artists, there is none. But there is one or two little-known tax
privileges for artists. For instance, artists returning from abroad could be exempted from paying tax on the
musical instruments that they bought, provided, however, that it is not in commercial volume.
8. Is it advisable for artists to form a union for collective bargaining or any association for the
purpose of collective action to safeguard and promote their rights and welfare?
If artists in a company are also regular employees, yes. If not, they have to fulfill first the requirement on
employee-employer relationship. It has been stated that a union may only be organized where there exists an
employee-employer relationship.
But in any case, it is always advisable to form a collective group to set standards and pursue artists’ rights and
welfare. Such a group may serve as a pressure or negotiating entity in behalf of its members. It may also lobby
or petition for laws, tax laws even, that are advantageous for their kind.
For instance, the officers of the Social Security System whom this Project consulted expressed a willingness to
coordinate with the group we are forming for the purpose of formulating a policy regarding artists’ social
security.
9. What is the course of action that artists in general, and directors and choreographers in music theater
in particular, may undertake to pursue the agenda of our rights and welfare?
Get organized.
“Under modern economic (and political) conditions, an individual unorganized worker (in our case, artist) is commonly helpless to exercise actual liberty, so that a worker (artist) must be free to organize collectively.”
Artists possess the right to self-organization; to form or join organizations that aim to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.
11. What is a cooperative?
A cooperative is an organization carrying on any of the various economic activities for the mutual benefit of its members.
12. What is a guild?
A guild could be any one of various types of associations, whether commercial, professional, social or religious, formed to promote the common interests of the members. It is an organization for the mutual protection of its members.
13. What is an artists’ equity organization?
In many countries, especially in the West, a popular label for the artists’ trade union organization is Equity. In the
14. What is a union?
A union is an organization of co-workers for the joint and mutual protection of their common interests.
15. What is a trade union?
A trade union is an organized association of workers formed for the promotion and protection of their common interests, especially with regard to wages, hours and working conditions. A trade union has the power to undertake collective bargaining.
16. What is collective bargaining?
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees so as to determine the conditions of employment. The result of collective bargaining procedures is a collective bargaining agreement or CBA. Employees are often represented in bargaining by a trade union or some kind of a labor organization. Collective bargaining is governed by labor laws.
17. How do the directors and choreographers in the NTF get organized for the purpose of promoting
their rights and welfare?
This Caucus has a three-fold assignment. One, unite on the need to get organized by making a declaration to this effect. Two, outline a guideline and standard of employment by identifying the concerns that have to be included in such a document. Three, form an ad hoc/working committee that is mandated to create a mechanism and design a time-bound and resource-bound program of action so that the task could be pursued right after the NTF.
It is suggested that the declaration take into account a general situationer and the prevailing conditions of employment of music theater directors and choreographers. This may be summarily outlined in the Caucus.
It is likewise recommended that the outline of the guideline and standard of employment be as general as possible to serve as a basis for its formulation.
The task of the ad hoc/working committee is to prepare the ground for a general assembly of directors and choreographers in the local music theater. It includes drafting the basic papers for the assembly, setting in motion a network of people and prospective participants and getting in place the technical and physical requirements for the assembly.
APPENDIX
PROJECT: Artists’ Rights and Welfare
Performing Arts Department
Cultural Center of the
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
NAME POSITION COMPANY/GROUP/PROJECT
Glecy Atienza Chairperson Alyansa, Inc.
Head Dramatic Arts, NCCA
Danny Bonuan Marketing Manager Bulwagang Gantimpala
Cristy de Castro Production Manager Tanghalang Pilipino
Marili Fernandez-Ilagan Project Director Artists’ Rights & Welfare Project
Artistic Director Tag-ani Performing Arts Society
Boni Ilagan Project Consultant Artists’ Rights & Welfare Project
Writer-Director Tag-ani Performing Arts Society
Elmar Ingles Executive Director Philstage
Coordinator Performers’ Rights Society Phils
Cora Inigo Artistic Director UP Filipiniana Alumni Dance Gr
Rolando Inocencio Artistic Director Dulaang Talyer
Nanding Josef Artistic Director Cultural Center of the Phils
Clottie Gealogo-Lucero Organizer National Theater Festival
Music theater artist Tanghalang Pilipino
Dennis Marasigan Marketing Director Cultural Center of the Phils. Director, librettist, playwright
Jun Pablo Director, Designer Bulwagang Gantimpala
Roberto Mendoza Former Head Teatro Pabrika
Joseph Ranes Project Assistant National Theater Festival
Boy Sanchez Project Assistant Artists’ Rights & Welfare Project
Nikki Garde-Torres Administration Coordinator National Theater Festival
Ana Valdes-Lim Artistic Director Philippine Playhouse
Edna Vida Member NCCA Dance Committee
Choreographer
Joy Virata Actor Repertory
LIST OF INTERVIEWEES
NAME POSITION AGENCY/OFFICE
Atty. Trixi Angeles Legal Consultant
Mr. Virginio Arriero Copyright Office Chief National Library
Atty. Gwendolyn Barrios Legal Consultant Social Security System
Atty. Emmanuel Jabla Labor Lawyer Jabla Damian & Associates
Mr. Enrique Nalus Labor Relations Div. Chief DOLE
Atty. Wylie Paler Tax Lawyer Department of Finance
Atty. Nicolas Pichay Legal Consultant NCCA
Atty. Felix Segayo Legal Consultant Cultural Center of the Phils.
Atty. Joselito Vivit Office-in-Charge Social Security System
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