Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP)
Definition
Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP)
The Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP) is the country’s leading private-sector advisory body for creative industries, founded in June 2017 by a coalition of creative leaders. It backs research, policy, and trade work that lifts Filipino design, film, music, advertising, and digital content onto the global stage.
CECP isn’t a government agency. It works alongside one. Since the landmark Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (Republic Act 11904) lapsed into law in July 2022, the council has become a key private-sector counterpart to the official Philippine Creative Industries Development Council seated at the Department of Trade and Industry.
Founding chairman Paolo Mercado has framed the pitch plainly: the Philippines already runs one of the world’s largest international contracting models through BPO, and the same playbook can move the country up the value chain into creative services. That’s the bet CECP exists to make.
For outsourcing buyers, the council matters because it shapes the talent, the tax incentives, and the trade missions that decide whether your next animation studio, branding agency, or game-art partner will sit in Manila or somewhere else. Get this part right, and you’re sourcing into a maturing sector with statutory backing rather than a loose freelance market.
How it works
CECP runs as a non-profit with a small executive team and rotating sector leads drawn from Philippine creative firms. The work splits into five connected tracks.
| Track | What CECP delivers | Who it serves |
|---|---|---|
| Research | Sector reports, talent maps, GDP-contribution studies | Government, investors |
| Policy advocacy | Position papers, congressional testimony, IRR drafting | Lawmakers, regulators |
| Trade promotion | Outbound missions, country pavilions, buyer matching | Exporters, foreign buyers |
| Creative hubs | Co-working and accelerator infrastructure | Startups, freelancers |
| Capacity building | Workshops, mentorship, internationalisation training | SMEs, creative talent |
The council partners closely with the Department of Trade and Industry on export pipelines and with the Board of Investments on incentives. It also feeds data into the official Creative Industries Development Council that RA 11904 established, giving private operators a structured channel to influence policy.
Funding mixes member contributions, project grants, and event revenue. There’s no statutory budget line, so CECP runs lean by design — a deliberate choice that keeps the council nimble but also dependent on industry goodwill year to year.
Governance sits with an elected board drawn from the country’s creative trade associations. Sector clusters covering advertising, animation, music, design, publishing, gaming, broadcast, and performing arts each get a voice, and that distributed model is partly why the council can speak credibly for such a varied industry.
Examples
CECP’s footprint shows up most clearly in trade missions and policy wins.
In 2018, the council convened the inaugural Creative Futures conference in Manila — its flagship annual gathering for creative industry stakeholders. The event has since hosted senior figures from advertising, animation, gaming, publishing, and design.
In 2022, CECP and its allies were central to the passage of RA 11904. The LawPhil text directly mandates a 19-member Philippine Creative Industries Development Council with nine private-sector seats, which the CECP network helps populate.
Member firms span household names in Philippine creative work. Animation studio Top Draw, music body the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry, and advertising group the 4As Philippines all sit inside CECP’s wider community — a who’s who of Manila’s creative establishment. The council’s outbound missions have placed Filipino creatives at South by Southwest, Annecy, and Tokyo Game Show.
Globally, creative industries generate between 2% and 11% of GDP across more than 50 countries, according to data summarised by Wikipedia citing the World Intellectual Property Organization. The Philippines, long underweight at the high end of that range, is now formally chasing that ceiling through CECP’s lobbying and the RA 11904 framework.
Local government units have followed the council’s lead. Cebu, Iloilo, and Baguio have all been designated UNESCO Creative Cities in recent years, with CECP helping pitch the applications. Each designation funnels more public attention and trade interest back into the regional creative scenes.
Related terms
- Business process outsourcing (BPO): the broader contracting sector CECP wants creative services to climb out of.
- Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO): higher-skill outsourcing work, closer to the creative tier.
- Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP): the BPO-side industry body CECP often coordinates with.
- Department of Trade and Industry (DTI): the cabinet agency housing the official creative industries council.
- Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA): runs the tax-incentivised zones where many creative outsourcing firms operate.
- Creative industries: the umbrella sector CECP represents, and one of the Philippines’ strongest export lines through animation, design, and music.
FAQ
When was the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines founded?
CECP was established in June 2017 by a group of Philippine creative-industry leaders, including founding chairman Paolo Mercado. It registered as a non-profit organisation.
Is CECP a government agency?
No. CECP is a private-sector, non-profit advisory body. It works alongside the government-mandated Philippine Creative Industries Development Council created by Republic Act 11904 in 2022, but the two are separate organisations.
What does CECP actually do day-to-day?
The council runs research projects, files policy submissions, organises trade missions, develops creative hubs, and convenes industry events like its annual Creative Futures conference. The output gets used by exporters, lawmakers, and foreign buyers.
How does CECP relate to RA 11904?
RA 11904, the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, gives statutory weight to many of the goals CECP has pushed since 2017. CECP-linked figures now sit on the official Creative Industries Development Council the law created.
Why should outsourcing buyers care about CECP?
If you’re contracting animation, design, music production, gaming art, or branding work to Manila, CECP shapes the talent pipeline, tax incentives, and trade infrastructure behind your supplier. Its wins translate into better, deeper, and more competitive Philippine creative vendors.
Where can I engage with CECP?
The council accepts member firms across creative sub-sectors and hosts open events through the year. Outsource Accelerator’s directory can connect you to CECP-aligned creative outsourcing partners in the Philippines — start your supplier search here.
Independent
