FDCP Chair Jose Javier Reyes backs initiative to lower movie ticket prices

Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chairman Jose Javier Reyes expressed support for lowering the prices of movie tickets to help lure Filipino audiences back to cinemas, citing the recent extended runs of "Sunshine" and "Lasting Moments.

- By ANNALYN S. JUSAY

Reyes stressed that the matter remains a business decision which producers must bring up in earnest dialogue with the Cinema Exhibitors Association of the Philippines (CEAP).

"This is what I like the producers to think about: “Yung limang piso sa bulsa mo, mas may saysay kesa sa limang daang piso sa panaginip mo,” he stated. (The five pesos in your pocket are worth more than the five hundred pesos in your dreams.)

The FDCP chair pointed to recent box-office surprises as evidence that Filipino audiences will return to cinemas if films are priced more affordably. “ For example, there's ‘Sunshine.' After the first week, tatlong sinehan na lang dapat paglabasan niyan. E, sumipa noong weekend! Umabot pa ng third week.” (After the first week, it should have been shown in just three theaters, but wow, it picked up that weekend, and it reached its third week.)

“Another example, who would have thought 'Lasting Moments' starring Sue Ramirez and JM De Guzman. Nag-work siya. May third week pa," Reyes noted. ( It reached the third week.)

Reyes added: “Example din, 'Food Delivery.' Who'd want to watch a documentary? Pero ngayon, pinag-uusapan, di ba?” (Another example is Food Delivery. Who would want to watch a documentary? But now, it’s being talked about, right?)