A copy of the first draft of Senate Bill 2930 - Design Council of the Philippines Act of 2011 was made available to the public here. The bill in itself looks promising  - with the main meat of the Bill being the establishment of the Design Council of the Philippines, which will in turn establish and implement a National Design Policy, in order to "guide the design and creative industries on the road to the Philippines being the Design Hub of Asia". This is the Philippines aiming high right here. 

Its very interesting to note some of the following goals that the National Design Policy will aim to achieve: the establishment of a network of Designers for knowledge exchange and content creation, the use of design thinking for problem solving (cue Tim Brown's TED talk here), the establishment opportunities to support Design, and the biggest goal of them all, to establish a strong National Identity for the Philippines. 

The challenge here though is convincing the lawmakers that the Bill will benefit not only a handful of Designers.  The author of the bill will need to establish how a well-developed Design Industry will positively and significantly improve the Economy as a whole. It should be significant enough to convince lawmakers to allocate 30 Million Pesos in taxpayer money as an initial appropriation for the council. Similar to the criticism of the establishment of Cultural Center of the Philippines way back, it would be tough to convince people that its a wise decision to spend money on the establishment of this council rather than the more urgent needs of the country, such as food, healthcare and education. Should the bill be signed into law, it would be a very notable achievement in itself. 

Interesting to note how today's Private Sector is actively helping the country, in particular those involved with the Creative Industries. One of the more notable initiatives being the pooling of Ideas to promote Philippine Tourism as a reaction to the Pilipinas Kay Ganda campaign fiasco. Good news is that the Department of Tourism is actively supporting designers' more effective campaigns by creatives like this one. The Creative Industries' push has finally paid off, or so it seems. 

Yes, the Philippines has a Creative Industry, probably not formalized as it is now with the huge influx of Business Process Outsourcing and the Information Technology work in the Philippines. The industry though has a long way of to go to be recognized, as it is more associated with these industries rather than an entity of its own. It has been there, silently growing and gaining recognition both locally and internationally. Filipino furniture, jewelry, gowns, bags and shoes, selling like hotcakes to Hollywood celebrities. Both Visual Artists and Graphic Designers making names in their respective fields. And nobody can fathom how big the Philippines Creative Industry have become, if you'll include Video Game Designers, 2D and 3D Animators, Outsourced Advertising Collateral Designers, Comicbook Illustrators, Photographers, and Audio-Visual Designers.  

And now, the Creative Industry is breaking its silence and is now making its presence known. Talks have been made by a handful of Manila's creatives with a particular lawmaker on a bill that will create the Design Council of the Philippines, to be filed this August. This is truly a sign that times are changing and the Philippines is now keeping up with progressive countries who have recognized the role of design in today's economy. And its about time, the Philippines is literally exploding with creative talent just waiting to be harnessed for its own benefit.