Look not to the Philippine government to support artists but to the Philippine PRIVATE SECTOR. It is the private sector that is capable of creating REAL industries (comprised of 20 or more successful, operative, REAL companies per field, none of which are university- and foundation-based) that can give proper, regular employment and retirement annuity to artists. The creation of REAL arts industries is something we should have done in the 1950s, after the Second World War, but WE DID NOT. As a result, artists have become freelancers, many of them distrustful of prospective employers.

In actuality, it may even be too late for us to begin creating REAL arts industries, for arts businesses today are viewed as losing propositions. People do not buy paintings everyday. People do not buy books everyday. People do not watch stage plays everyday. What people are spending their money on are FOOD, SHELTER, and CLOTHING. The only successful industry closest to an art industry today is commercial advertising, and that is where most artists seek employment as a viable resort.

And yet, why are we graduating hundreds, if not thousands, of arts majors every year? Where do they find REAL work, other than abroad? What kind of jobs do they land themselves in? Has anyone conducted surveys to find out where all of these graduates have ended up? It is fine to say that art matters, that art is the air we breathe, and that we live art. But that really doesn't mean anything because we live science and cuisine and medicine and left-brain hemisphere thinking as well. It is, in fact, placing the cart before the horse.

But, no, if you must do something, do NOT seek assistance from the Philippine government IF YOU ARE AUTHENTIC ARTISTS. Because, if you do that, everything you create will be subject to government censorship, and everything you create will be perceived as government propaganda.