PR/via Mela Lesmoras – PTV News
Lights, Camera, Safety.
“The Eddie Garcia Bill will protect all workers of the movie, tv, and theater industries” – Rep. Mikee Romero
By filing House Bill 191, 1-PACMAN Rep. Mikee L. Romero, a stepson of the late legendary actor-director Eddie Garcia, shines light on and zooms into focus the safety and health hazards entertainment industry workers face.
“The whole nation mourned the passing of the screen icon. It then prompted the urgent reminder of the importance of safety protocols on set of any production site,”Romero said in the explanatory note of HB 191.
Last June 8, 2019, Eddie Garcia tripped on loose cables on a GMA Network production set while filming an upcoming television series.
Romero expressed the hope that the “Eddie Garcia” incident will symbolize “the last of its kind of accidents and that safety and health protocols be put in place so that such incidents can now be eliminated.”
“GMA Network said it has been their protocol to have medical personnel and crew on standby whenever a production is performing. Nonetheless, that was not the situation on the day of Eddie Garcia’s accident,” the congressman noted.
The Eddie Garcia Bill requires the industry to provide a safe workplace for all its workers and employees.
“Workplace safety and health protocols shall be primordial to eliminate personal injuries, illness or even death from occurring inside the workplace,” Romero said.
“A safety incident onsite can mean more than a retake, it can lead to huge losses of millions of pesos, a long production down time or worst, even loss of lives,” he also said.
Romero explained that the film, television and theater industry “is a unique business, and as such, presents several unique health and safety hazards.”
