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Nov

5

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GRAPHIC NOVEL ARCHIVE ACT OF 2010

Filed Under Philippine Comics | 6 Comments

Cartoonist Hazel Manzano and a few others tuned me into this recent news report about former film action star and now Philippine Senator Lito Lapid and his Philippine National Graphic Novel Archive Act of 2010, which was filed on September 7, 2010.

You can download of the PDF File of the bill here:
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GRAPHIC NOVEL ARCHIVE ACT OF 2010
http://www.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=15&q=SBN-2485
“AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GRAPHIC NOVEL ARCHIVE, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

Here’s a news report:
Lapid Wants to Preserve Philippine Comics
http://www.philstar.com/article.aspx?articleid=626637

Excerpt:

“The proposed National Graphic Novel Archive would play a key role in documenting and interpreting Filipino art and experience in the field of graphic novels and in actively contributing to the development of the country’s graphic novel industry.

It would be tasked to collect, store, preserve and make available indigenous graphic novel materials relevant to arts and culture in the country.

The Archive would strive to make the locally produced graphic novels accessible to the widest possible audience in the country and promote and enhance the development of the industry to ensure its sustainability.”

Now I’m still processing all this information. I don’t have a full opinion as of yet, but if ever this act becomes a law, and it actually gets enforced, it may well be a step in the right direction. Yes, I believe it may well be a very good thing, if handled properly.

Actually, a few concerned individuals and groups have already been doing for the past half decade what this act only proposes for now. There’s Dennis Villegas republishing a long lost Kenkoy Album, which may well turn out to be the very first Filipino comic book, there’s Komikero Publishing and Vibal Foundation’s Francisco V. Coching’s EL INDIO, and there’s Atlas Publishing with Coching’s Lapu-Lapu. Alfredo Alcala’s Voltar and Jess Jodloman’s Ramir are currently being worked on. All of this was accomplished without the benefit of legislation. But even then, those are only THREE complete and published books. Imagine how many more can be produced if more money and people are thrown into it.

Comments

6 Responses to “PHILIPPINE NATIONAL GRAPHIC NOVEL ARCHIVE ACT OF 2010”

  1. Teddy Pavon on November 5th, 2010 11:43 am

    While the bill has good intentions, I feel it still needs a lot of work before it can even be considered.

    For one thing, it feels unnecessary to have 2 separate agencies for archiving. We already have the National Library that keeps records of literary and cultural media, why not expand its powers and functions to NOT discriminate against graphic novels and comics? Or give it a graphic novel archive division? To generate a new agency that could perform the function of an already existing one seems redundant. It also brings out a lot of nuisances should it get approved (What happens to GNs that are already archived in the National Library through deposit as allowed in the IP code? Are changes needed in the IP code regarding deposits of work? Will issuance of ISSN and ISBN of GNs be transfered to the GN archive, or should the author hand over separate copies to both agencies? etc..)

    Also, the bill feels more like a part of a bigger comics bill than one that can stand alone. If you took Sen Villar’s and this bill together and added a few more things, it would be much more comprehensive and would have a higher chance of being passed. As it stands, both seem weak on their own.

  2. Gerry Alanguilan on November 5th, 2010 12:27 pm

    Teddy, the National Library’s track record as far as comics and graphic novels go isn’t exactly encouraging. Remember this is the same agency that refused to give ISBNs to comics because people there believed comics had “no research value” as if it’s within their power to refuse any publication ISBNs (its NOT).

    I’ve also heard reports from komiks collectors of how collected editions of printed komiks were allowed to rot and thrown out because they had no space.

    To have them be in charge of something like this doesn’t seem like a smart move. It seems to me that many people there have no respect for komiks or even understand their historical and cultural value. A drastic change has to occur in their staff and in their policy before I can trust them with something like this.

  3. Jonas Diego on November 5th, 2010 2:24 pm

    50 million pesos will certainly go a long way towards restoring a lot of classics.

  4. Gilbert Monsanto on November 6th, 2010 10:26 am

    Naalala ko pa yung sinabi nila noon na tinaggal na nila sa National Library ang mga komiks dahil walang historical value di ba? paano pa mererestore ang mga iyon?

  5. plsburydoughboy on November 7th, 2010 7:48 am

    My apologies for not reading this sooner! I’ll share this and Adam David’s posts on my blog.

  6. bernard fabro on November 7th, 2010 10:05 pm

    i hope maging batas ang bill na ito, malaki ang maitutulong nito sa komiks industry na mapreserve lahat ng mga classic komiks, this bill should be considered because it is part of our culture and history.