MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A total of 1,500 film and audiovisual (AV) workers will be vaccinated during the “Bakuna Nights para sa Film at Entertainment Workers,” a partnership between the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Quezon City (QC) Government’s #QCProtekTODO program.
Launched on June 24 at the Quezon City Hall Vaccination Site, the “Bakuna Nights para sa Film at Entertainment Workers” has three sessions scheduled from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The first session on June 24 had 500 slots, with 477 workers vaccinated, and the next two sessions on July 1 and 8 will also have 500 slots each.
“Sa ating mga manggagawa, because of you, Quezon City is the City of Stars and I do intend to make sure to take care of all of the individuals who contribute to making Quezon City the great city that it is. At siyempre, nangunguna ang ating pong mga manggagawa from the film at television industry,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said in her Opening Remarks.
She also recognized the perseverance of film and AV workers, especially the daily wage earners, whose livelihoods have been greatly affected by restrictions in production activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Ako ay umaasa na kapag tuluy-tuloy na ang pagbabakuna, babalik din sa normal ang ating mga buhay at ang ating pong industrya ay magiging masigla muli,” she added.
FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño expressed her utmost gratitude to Mayor Belmonte for being the first to extend a helping hand for the vaccination of film and AV workers. She also revealed that because of the FDCP-QC vaccination initiative for A4 Priority Group workers, the national film agency has pending partnerships with various local government units (LGUs).
“Malaking bagay po ito para sa aming industriya. Napakalaking bagay nito para makabangon kami, maging protektado kami, at makapagtrabaho kami nang walang takot,” said Diño, who called on fellow vaccinated film and AV workers to encourage other members of the industry to get vaccinated as well as to register with the FDCP’s National Registry (NR), which is in charge of coordinating with workers regarding their vaccination schedule and requirements.
The FDCP’s National Registry for Audiovisual Workers (NRAW) has more than 5,000 workers, and almost 1,500 of them are based in Quezon City as workers or residents. All workers to be vaccinated during the QC Bakuna Nights will be contacted by the FDCP National Registry (NR) team via a call and text brigade for proper scheduling.
The FDCP NR team was at the “Bakuna Nights para sa Film at Entertainment Workers” launch to assist the workers and help facilitate inoculation process together with the #QCProtekTODO team. A short program featured the free performance of Ice Seguerra together with his band, The Pogi Boys. There was also a lugaw station for the film and AV workers because their vaccination schedule was set during dinner time.
One of the 477 vaccinated workers is performing artist and commercial model Victoria Mina, who was happy to be part of the Bakuna Nights launch for film and AV workers. “It was rather heartwarming to see people from the industry gathering and getting vaccinated together,” Mina told the FDCP. “Malaking tulong ang programang ito. Kapit lang tayo, babangon tayo ulit!”
Videographer Benedict Suarez, who was also vaccinated during the Bakuna Nights launch, said to fellow industry workers, “Please avail ‘yung libreng offer ng FDCP para at least lahat tayo makabalik nang dahan-dahan sa normal.”
A surprise segment during the program featured the singing of “Happy Birthday!” to Chairperson Diño, who was celebrating the eve of her birthday. She remarked, “It is an honor to be part of the synergy between the government and industry to ensure the welfare of our workers. This gives me hope and fuels my purpose for public service. Indeed, we can make things happen such as working together towards having our workers vaccinated for the recovery of our film and audiovisual industry.”
QC Bakuna Nights is Quezon City’s evening vaccination program that addresses the scheduling concerns of daily wage earners and those who are unable to take a leave of absence. It is open to FDCP NR registrants as well as non-registered workers who may send their full name, job designation, email address, mobile number, and home address to nationalregistry@fdcp.ph.
Those who want to register with their respective LGUs may present as proof of occupation the FDCP National Registry Certification, which can be downloaded from their MyFDCPRegistry Profile on the NR website (nationalregistry.fdcp.ph).
For inquiries and other concerns, email nationalregistry@fdcp.ph or visit https://nationalregistry.fdcp.ph.
