The recently concluded Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA) event honors and provide homage to Filipino creatives. Since the first Creative Industries Summit last year, the follow-up is nothing short of content and opportunities to the country’s creatives. The Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba gave the opening remarks.

The highlight of the two-day summit is the launch of the “Malikhaing Pinoy” Program  or Creative Philippines Program which the said department would spearhead and implement. The DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual remarked, “Malikhaing Pinoy is our holistic approach to addressing the constraints and barriers of the creative industries. It is a flagship initiative well-informed by various sector-specific industry studies and roadmaps carried out by the DTI with support from our champions in Congress.”

There were several panels with speaker from the Philippines and abroad was convened to inspire and give inspiration, there were four sessions, two in the morning and another two in the afternoon, eight in total during the course of the March 7 and 8 Creative Industries Summit. The first day had panels on creative cities network from Cebu, Dundee and Baguio. Then the National Commission for Culture and the Arts shared about harnessing culture as source of creativity. The second day featured a panel on advancing technological applications, creativity and innovation. Session 6 is about pursuing opportunities for education and upskilling of creative talents. The second to the last session is on creative ecosystem of the region featuring speakers from the Philippines, Korea and Indonesia. The last panel ties up the theme, unifying creative agenda, elevating Filipino creativity with sharing of British Council, Development Academy of the Philippines among others to talk about strengthening structure, institutions and governance for the creatives.

Senator Loren Legarda and Senator Koko Pimentel graced the occasion along with Cong. Toff De Venezia with Sen. Imee Marcos and no less than the president of the Philippine Republic himself. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr joining virtually. Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications Secretary Paul Soriano emphasized belonging to the creatives himself various collaborative projects for Malikhaing Pinoy consistent and aligned with PCIDA and the mantra that the Future is Creative.