Raffy Tulfo seeks probe of 'overpriced' tickets for foreign artists

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday urged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to investigate the “extremely high” prices of concert tickets of international artists, including K-Pop idols, who visit the Philippines for performances. 

During the plenary debates on the proposed P12 billion budget of the DTI and its attached agencies for next year, Tulfo questioned why the VIP concert ticket for K-pop girl group Blackpink reached P19,000 in the country, when it reportedly cost around P11,000 only in South Korea.

Likewise, he said that the VIP ticket for the concert of J-Hope from Korean boy band BTS in Manila soared to P22,000, but was only approximately P14,000 in Indonesia. 

Senator Imee Marcos, the DTI budget sponsor, agreed with Tulfo, as she expressed suspicion that organizers were raking in excessive profits from international artists’ concert  events.

“Ubod nang mahal talaga. Subalit ‘yun nga, ang alam natin, kung Koreano syempre mas mura doon sa bansa nila. Gayunpaman, maaaring imbestigahan din nila ang concert organizers, baka labis labis naman ang kinikita, isa ‘yun,” Marcos said. 

(It's really expensive. But what we know is that if Koreans do a concert, of course it is cheaper in their country. However, the DTI might also investigate the concert organizers, maybe they're making too much money, that's one.) 

Concert ticket outlets will also have to explain the high cost of their tickets, the senator said.

“Ikalawa, ‘yung mga major concert platforms for selling and buying tickets—pwede ring kausapin ang SM Tickets, TicketWorld, [Live] Nation kung bakit lumulobo nang labis labis ang mga concert tickets.

(Secondly, we can also talk to major concert platforms for selling and buying tickets such as SM Tickets, TicketWorld, [Live] Nation, about why concert tickets are overpriced.)

"Hindi tuloy nakakapag-enjoy ‘yung mga kabataan na musically-inclined at talagang mahilig at may kinabukasan sa musika,” she added. 

(The young people who are musically inclined and may have a future career in music are not able to enjoy because of this.) 

Tulfo also pointed to the recent Coldplay concerts, wherein tickets cost around P5,885 in South Korea but shot up to about P15,000 when the band performed in the Philippines.

“Palaging nangunguna ang Pilipinas pagdating sa pinakamahal na concert tickets. Lamang na lamang tayo… Syempre lahat tayo gusto tayo lamang, pero this time, ayokong lamang tayo. Dapat patas,” Tulfo said. 

(The Philippines is always leading when it comes to the most expensive concert tickets. Of course we want to lead, but I don't want us to lead in this one. It should be fair.) 

He said that the overpricing issue is something that the DTI has to look into. 

He also asked the agency to coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to track down scalpers, which could also be a reason for the high ticket prices. 

This was echoed by Marcos, saying that she will ensure that the DTI investigates the matter. 

“‘Yung Coldplay, hindi dapat ganyan kamahal—medyo laos na rin sila eh. Naabutan ko pa ‘yun eh, kaya sana mas mura nang kaunti,” Marcos said. 

(Coldplay tickets shouldn’t even be that expensive—they’re a bit past their prime. I just hope prices go down.)—MCG, GMA Integrated News