QUEZON CITY – The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) convened a Stakeholders’ Roundtable Discussion and Validation Forum with representatives from the key government agencies, as well as the movie and television, theater, and broadcast industries, for its ongoing research project titled, “Exploring Social Dialogue Mechanisms in Upholding Decent Working Conditions of Freelance and Contract Workers in the Creative Industry.” The event was held on 15 September 2025 at the Large Training Room 2A, Occupational Safety and Health Center, Quezon City.

Led by ILS researchers Franchesca Rose S. Castillo and Marvin G. Cabangunay, the forum served as a venue to validate the study’s preliminary findings and to gather comments from key partners and subject matter experts to ensure their accuracy, credibility, and relevance.

To contextualize the discussion, Ms. Josephine M. Virrey, OIC-Chief of the Department of Trade and Industry – Policy Development, Research, and Analytics, presented the government’s commitments to strengthen the creative sector under the Philippine Creative Industries Development (PCID) Act. Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) Director-General Paolo Villaluna also presented the agency’s mandate as a newly established government body tasked with implementing capacity-building, training, and assistance programs for the professionalization of workers in the audio-visual industries, while guiding and supporting industry guilds. He also underscored FAP’s role in recognizing outstanding cinematic achievements to revitalize and further promote the Philippine film industry.

Following the presentations, participants then engaged in workshop sessions to examine the policy and regulatory environment affecting freelancers, explore possible adjustments to existing tripartite and bipartite mechanisms, and identify strategies to advance decent work in the creative industry.

The forum was attended by DOLE Bureaus such as the Bureau of Labor Relations, Bureau of Working Conditions, DOLE National Capital Region, as well as the  Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Also present were guilds accredited by the Film Academy of the Philippines, theater groups, and major broadcast networks, including ABS-CBN, GMA, and TV5.

This study is one of the eight ongoing researches of ILS for FY 2025 and will be formally presented at the 14th DOLE Research Conference in October 2025.

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