THE HOUSE of Representatives has approved a bill lowering the amusement tax on cinemas to 10 percent from 30 to revive the ?dying? movie industry, an official said yesterday.

?Lowering the amusement tax will encourage producers to make more quality movies and entice more people to watch them,? Buhay Party-List Rep. Irwin Tieng, principal author of House Bill 5624, said in a statement.

?More movie theaters will open and more people will be employed by theater owners and film producers,? he said.

Tieng says the local movie is the most heavily taxed sector. That and film piracy have forced many cinemas and Filipino production companies to close down, causing the number of movies produced to drop to about 30 a year today from 200 in the 1990s.

The 30-percent amusement tax aside, Tieng says, the film industry also pays 12-percent value-added tax on imported raw materials and equipment, 35-percent corporate income tax, and 5-percent withholding tax on the producers? film share.

House Bill 5624 would amend Section 140 of the Local Government Code. Its co-authors are Reps. Lorenzo Ta?ada, Roilo Golez, Rufus Rodriguez, Luis Villafuerte, Rene Velarde and Ma. Carissa Coscoluella. Roy Pelovello