Artists Urge Unity vs.
Repression
A number of the
country’s artists and cultural workers have come together to protest what
they describe as “threats to the freedom of expression.” This, they say,
stands even as Proclamation No. 1017 declaring the country as being in a
state of national emergency has been lifted.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN
REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
A number of the
country’s artists and cultural workers have come together to protest what
they describe as “threats to the freedom of expression.” This, they say,
stands even as Proclamation No. 1017 declaring the country as being in a
state of national emergency has been lifted.
It is important for
artists to defy repressive measures, said historical conservationist
Trixie Angeles, who is also a lawyer. “Without freedom of expression,
there can be no artist,” she said in a March 3 press conference at the
Newsdesk Bar and Cafe in Quezon City.
|
FOR FREE EXPRESSION:
Artists condemn the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s “repressive”
measures at a press conference in Quezon City, March 3
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER MARTIN
REMOLLINO |
Citing an alleged
conspiracy among elements of the opposition, the “extreme Left”
represented by the CPP-NPA-NDFP (Communist Party of the Philippines-New
People’s Army- National Democratic Front of the Philippines) and the
“extreme Right,” represented by “military adventurists,” Proclamation No.
1017 invokes Sec. 18, Art. 7 of the Constitution, which enables the
President to call on the armed forces to “prevent or suppress lawless
violence, invasion or rebellion,” as well as Sec. 17, Art. 12 which states
that: “In times of national emergency, when the public interest so
requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms
prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any
privately-owned public utility or business affected with public interest.”
President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo had issued Proclamation No. 1017 a few hours after
Philippine Army Chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon announced on television
that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had thwarted a coup attempt
by a group of officers allegedly led by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Col.
Ariel Querubin, both members of the original Young Officers Union (YOU),
which also figured in a coup attempt in 1989 against then President
Corazon Aquino. At the time that Proclamation No. 1017 was issued, rallies
commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first People Power uprising,
which are also calling for Macapagal-Arroyo’s ouster, were being held at
various points in Metro Manila by anti-Arroyo groups from different
political shades.
Originally, the March
3 press conference in which the artists manifested their unity against
repression was specifically about Proclamation No. 1017. The unity
statement read by Julie Po of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines
(CAP) in the March 3 press conference in Quezon City urged the junking of
the said proclamation.
“We join the
widespread public clamor to oppose in the strongest terms the promulgation
by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Proclamation 1017 placing the country under
a state of national emergency,” the statement read. “We view this
imposition as unconstitutional, oppressive, and restrictive of creative
freedom. We find it just for our people to defy and junk this
antidemocratic imposition.”
Among those who
signed the statement were actors Roy Alvarez and Melissa Mendez; directors
Joel Lamangan, Soc Jose, Mel Chionglo, Carlitos Siguion Reyna and Larry
Matic; painters Adi Baens Santos, Neil Doloricon and Antipas Delotavo;
screenwriter Ricky Lee; playwright and literary critic Bienvenido Lumbera;
producer Marichu Maceda; musicians Eric Cabrera, Chikoy Pura, and Bobby
Balingit; independent filmmaker Sigfreid Barros Sanchez; and sculptors Rey
Paz Contreras and Tala Isla-Contreras.
CAP started to
circulate the statement Feb. 28 and received over a hundred signatures in
three days.
In an earlier
statement, the broad alliance Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST
Gloria) – whose membership includes the multi-media groups Southern
Tagalog Exposure and Pokus Gitnang Luson (Focus Central Luzon), the poetry
group Kilometer 64; and musicians Bobby Balingit, Dong Abay, and Lourd de
Veyra – had called for increased defiance as response to increasing
repression.
“We were able to last
through the dark days of the dictatorship because there were those who lit
candles to tear through the blackness of the night,” read the ARREST
Gloria statement, which was issued Feb. 26.
“Let us refuse to be
put to sleep by the blackness of the night,” the ARREST Gloria statement
further read. “We enjoin our fellow artists and the people to light
candles and with these burn the curtain of darkness now shrouding the
nation.”
At around 11:30 a.m.,
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that she was lifting
Proclamation No. 1017 – while the press conference was still ongoing.
Someone in the crowd had received the news and blurted it out, creating
quite a stir in the venue.
“But we will not stop
at Proclamation 1017,” Po said. “It is not the only measure that represses
us. There are other measures that prevent us from knowing the truth.”
For his part, poet
and literary scholar Gelacio Guillermo, who spoke in an open forum that
followed the press conference said that the lifting of Proclamation No.
1017 is “illusory.”
“Whether it is lifted
or not, the effects of the proclamation are upon us,” he said. “Government
opponents are being arrested and media is being monitored.”
Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita had earlier admitted that the “crackdown” on
“destabilizers” would continue even after Proclamation No. 1017 is lifted.
Likewise, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao said they
would push through with formulating editorial guidelines for media, which
would be implemented whether or not Proclamation No. 1017 is lifted.
Bulatlat
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