MANILA, Philippines — In a move that marks a milestone in Philippine cinema, the movie theaters across the chain of shopping malls owned by SM Prime Holdings, Inc. will become fully digitilized this September.

According to SM Cinema, 100% of its theaters will be converted to digital under the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) program, a financing mechanism which funds the first purchase of digital cinema equipment, allowing theater owners and exhibitors to recoup a portion of equipment costs.

The feat comes as SM Cinema and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) inked an agreement to support the program and FDCP’s Cinematheque Project.

Digitizing the movie theaters, according to SM Cinema, will not only help prevent piracy of films as it will also benefit the environment.

The tighter copy protection that comes with digital conversion will help prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies before the local and world premiere of films, as the interception of prints no longer happen. 

Digital conversion is also environment-friendly, as it eliminates the need to use chemicals which are used in developing films.