THE Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) revealed that the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) executive committee has failed to remit to beneficiaries some P10 million in amusement tax proceeds from 2010 to 2012.
During a hearing on the petition for mandamus filed by the film organization Tuesday, FAP lawyer Antonio Inton said that millions of funds are also unremitted to the beneficiaries after Atty. Francis Tolentino assumed leadership of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Inton reacted to Tolentino’s earlier statements that he was not the head of the MMDA when the Commission on Audit (COA) came up with a finding saying the MMFF executive committee failed to remit some P82 million to the beneficiaries from 2002 to 2008.
Based on the documents released by FAP director general Leo Martinez, the amusement tax collected from the MMFF in 2010 totalled to P15.73 million, but only P11.2 million was released to identified beneficiaries.
It also showed that only P11 million of the P12.27 million was released from the 2011 MMFF proceeds, while P11 million of the P16.41 million was released from the 2012 proceeds.
Lawyer Mary Claire Hernandez, representing the MMFF executive committee, said she could not comment on the latest claims from FAP as these were not included in the original petition. She said she has yet to see the documents supporting their claims.
The earlier petition for mandamus only covered the COA report that audited the funds from 2002 to 2008, when executive committee was still headed by former MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando.
The audit report showed that the MMFF executive committee only released to identified beneficiaries P130.4 million of the total proceeds of P216.6 million, thus leaving a balance of P82.8 million of amusement tax proceeds from the said years.
FAP asked Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 217 Judge Santiago Arenas to order the release of the said unremitted funds based on the COA report.
But in the document provided by FAP, it showed that the deficiencies from 2002 to 2008 only amounted to P60.96 million. It even showed that the executive committee “over remitted” to beneficiaries P949,593 and P500,000 in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
When asked about the discrepancy from their records to that of COA, Martinez said their computation is different from the audit agency.
In a statement, MMFF executive committee spokesperson Marichu Maceda maintained that all the funds of the MMFF, particularly the amusement tax collections, are intact and accounted for and had been properly distributed to its intended beneficiaries.
“The MMFF execom is mandated to allocate and remit to the designated beneficiaries the net proceeds of the amusement taxes after deducting all operational and incidental expenses of the MMFF. This is being complied with religiously every year,” she said.
In its motion filed through Hernandez, the MMFF executive committee asked Arenas to dismiss the case as “it is well settled that injury to rights” based on Article 1146 of Civil Code prescribe after four years.
She added that deduction of expenses of the festival – such as for awards, incentives, and prizes – are authorized by the rules and regulations of the executive order that created the MMFF.
“In this case, petitioner, despite knowledge of the said Rules and Regulations, did not submit its ‘question or inquiry’ relating to the rule as regards the deduction of expenses from the MMFF fund,” read the motion.
Hernandez also told the court that the MMFF executive committee also sent a letter in 2009 to COA detailing its response to the audit report. A copy of the said response has yet to be released.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Inton said they will not pursue the petition for a temporary restraining order stopping the National Cinema Association of the Philippines (NCAP) from effecting direct payment of the proceeds from the recent festival to the MMDA and MMFF executive committee in order to avert further damage and prejudice to FAP.
He said they do not want other beneficiaries to think that they are preventing the release of the proceeds from the latest festival.
Beneficiaries of the fund include the MOWELFUND (50%), FAP (20%), the Motion Picture Anti Film Piracy Council (20%), the Film Development Council of the Philippines (5%), and the Optical Media Board (5%).
Judge Arenas deferred issuing any action pending the resolution of the motion to dismiss of the MMFF executive committee.
The MMDA, which claimed that it is different from the MMFF, filed a motion to be dropped from the case. The NCAP also filed a motion to dismiss.
The petitioners have ten days to file its comment.
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