Press Release No. 50-03
12 February 2003
SECRETARY
BLAS F. OPLE ACCEPTS JAPAN’S CULTURAL GRANT AID FOR UP FILM CENTER
Foreign Secretary Blas F. Ople received from the Japanese Government today
audio-visual equipment valued at forty nine million five hundred thousand
yen (about PhP20 million) to be given to the University of the Philippines
Film Center.
“The modern equipment will allow the UP Film Center to upgrade its film archives,
cinematic education, and production. This equipment will be modern tools
of higher education that will provide students with intensive training and
hands-on experience in film production and presentation,” Ople said.
The movie-making equipment is a grant from the Japanese Government’s Cultural
Grant Assistance. The annual Cultural Grant Assistance is being extended
by the Government of Japan to recipient countries and organizations the world
over to help them improve their facilities for cultural, educational, and
research activities through financial assistance to purchase necessary equipment
for such purposes.
The turn over of equipment was made at the signing and exchange of notes
ceremony by Secretary Ople for the Philippines and Ambassador Kojiro Takano
of Japan on 12 February 2003 at the DFA.
Present during the ceremony were officials from the Board of Regents of
the University of the Philippines, the UP-Film Center, the Embassy
of Japan, and the DFA.