SAKA, or Sama-Samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo, was recently invited by arts center Para Site to visit Hong Kong and share about the struggle for agrarian reform in the Philippines. They produced a booklet entitled, “Three Songs, Three Recipes.” SAKA, an alliance of artists concerned with genuine land reform, rural development, and food security, bonded with migrant workers over food and music.
In time for the Catholic tradition of fasting during the Holy Week, a peasant advocates group led a protest action assailing how the government “has virtually imposed hunger on the poor and the marginalized amid the apparent absence of any concrete plans for economic relief and the strengthening of the public health system.”
“Artists know that their freedom to create the art that they wish to is premised on the freedom of expression. When this freedom is taken away, so is their freedom to create art. And they create art to serve the basic sectors, because we basically owe everything to farmers and workers—what we eat, the things that we use everyday. When they are suppressed, then everything else is rendered meaningless.”
Detained artists Amanda Echanis, Cheryl Catalogo and Alvin Fortaliza have done nothing wrong and merely used their art to present the story of the masses.
Members of progressive organizations hold an indignation protest August 11 at the Commission on Human Rights following the killing of Randall Echanis, Anakpawis chairperson and consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
The documentation of the current attacks to peasant farmers and workers, particularly the killings of Negros 14 last March 30, seeks to spread awareness and urge people to stand against the oppression in rural communities.