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Monday, February 27, 2006
ARREST GLORIA STATEMENT ON PROCLAMATION 1017
LET US BURN THE CURTAIN OF DARKNESS
In his novel Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal – one of our patriotic artists – has this famous passage about refusing to sleep in the darkness of the night. We would do well to bear in mind this line at this point in our country’s history.
It is the most bitter of ironies that we should come full circle as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of a momentous event in which we made history.
Twenty years ago on Feb. 25, a million Filipinos massed up at EDSA to stop tanks. Rosary-bearing nuns faced soldiers fully armed and schoolgirls stuffed roses into soldiers’ guns. They were at EDSA to stop government troops from massacring a handful of soldiers who, unable to play deaf to the clamors of the people, decided to take a stand against the Marcos dictatorship.
It was the culmination of more than a decade of people’s resistance against the tyranny wrought by the Marcos regime through its Presidential Decree No. 1081 placing the entire Philippines under martial law. This uprising, now known as EDSA I, ended more than 20 years during which Filipinos working for sovereignty, democracy, and good governance were treated like criminals and visited with punishment unfit for even the lowest beasts.
Of those punished during those fateful years, many were artists like us. As we jubilated for the 20th anniversary of the day the light started to shine again, we remembered our fellow artists who fell in the fight against the night: Lorena Barros, Emmanuel Lacaba, Wilfredo Gacosta, Ismael Quimpo, and Valerio Nofuente.
It is the most bitter of ironies that while the Filipino people were commemorating the 20th anniversary of this momentous uprising, the dark hours we fought to drive away should descend anew on the nation.
On Feb. 24, as Filipinos were already in the streets in their tens of thousands in jubilation, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1017 declaring the Philippines as being in a state of national emergency – on the basis of a supposed coup attempt which the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had earlier claimed to have thwarted. The issuance of the said proclamation would be followed by a series of violent dispersals of commemorative rallies and a crackdown on various forces known to be critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
Professors Randy David and Ronald Llamas, lawyer Argee Guevarra, Rep. Crispin Beltran, and retired Generals Ramon Montaño and Rex Piad have all been arrested while a number of others have been forced to place themselves under heightened security. The offices of newspapers The Daily Tribune and Abante have been raided and a number of other media outlets are being closely monitored – including the Catholic church-operated Radyo Veritas.
No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao – ironically said to have been an activist for a brief period before martial law – has bragged that there are more to come.
Those whose memories stretch back by at least 34 years remember that the nation saw state aggression of such magnitude only during the martial law years.
The nightmare of martial law plagued the nation for 14 years. In the end, the iron hand melted in the heat of the people’s collective wrath. Twenty years after that we come full circle.
But this new dark period in our country’s history need not last another 14 years. We toppled a tyrant and we can bring down another one.
We were able to last through the dark days of dictatorship because there were those who lit candles to tear through the blackness of the night.
Let us refuse to be put to sleep by the blackness of the night. We enjoin our fellow artists and the people to light candles and with these burn the curtain of darkness now shrouding the nation.
Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
Feb. 26, 2006
Southern Tagalog Exposure
KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists' Collective
KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Pokus Gitnang Luson
Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama
Boom Dizon
Rommel Lozano
Mary Rose Abano
Aba Dalena
Posted at 5:33:31 pm by stexposure
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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
ARREST Gloria On the "Wowowee" Tragedy
The Wowowee Stampede is a National Tragedy
In trying to absolve, before the public, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration of responsibility for the Wowowee tragedy which killed at least 75 people - one of the deaths being a forced abortion - on Feb. 4, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has shown nothing except the extent of his servility toward Malacañang.
Those were among the wisest of words. “Saying that this event is a mirror of poverty is carrying it too far,” he said. “There is a tragedy because of the program.”
Either the honorable executive secretary was taking us for a ride or he had yet to acquaint himself with the nature of the television program that marked its first anniversary by being at the heart of a national tragedy.
Yes, the stampede that marked Wowowee's first anniversary is a national tragedy. More than being an issue of reckless imprudence on the part of the show's organizers - which it definitely is - the Wowowee tragedy is an extremely depressing picture of what this country has come to.
An overwhelming majority of the more than 30,000 who had lined up in front of the PhilSports Arena (also known as the ULTRA) were from the margins of Philippine society, a “basket case of a society” in the words of poet and literary scholar Gelacio Guillermo. Those of us who regularly go to the vicinity of the ABS-CBN compound have noticed that those who line up for Wowowee in the hope of getting into its contests look alike: their attires speak of the daily ordeal of surviving with less than the barest necessities, the looks in their eyes speak of hopelessness.
They pushed and trod over each other in a rush to get inside the stadium because of rumors that the show was giving away raffle tickets to the first 300 people to enter. The prizes ranged from cash to taxicabs to a house and lot - giving a sense of “hope” that those with raffle tickets would have a chance to lift themselves and their loved ones out of the rut with one stroke of luck.
It was this desperate yearning for a sudden exit from penury, or even for a small amount of money to tide them over for a few weeks or months, that drove the people to push and tread over each other in a rush to get in. Because of this desperation, at least 75 people are now dead. Most of the dead are women - the ones who daily confront the question of how to make do with a pittance - and most of the women who died were grandmothers. Only three of those who died were men.
The Macapagal-Arroyo government cannot wash its hands of responsibility in this tragedy. Hunger and joblessness statistics have reached all-time highs under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose supposed mandate in the 2004 election is not even credible to say the least. The gap between the cost of living and the wages of an average workingman in this country ever widens as the government imposes additional tax burdens on the people who already have nothing to spare, supposedly to stave off a crisis they were not responsible for in the first place.
You have missed the point, Secretary Ermita. This is a national tragedy. It is not simply “because of the program” - unless you are talking about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's program of governance.
Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
Feb. 9, 2006
Southern Tagalog Exposure
KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists' Collective
KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Pokus Gitnang Luson
Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Paolo Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama
Posted at 9:57:19 pm by stexposure
Permalink
Friday, January 13, 2006
ARREST Gloria on Proposed Amendment to Art. III, Sec. 4
A Complete Mockery of Democracy
It was an artist – film director Lino Brocka – who, as one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, formulated the provision for one of the cornerstones of the democracy we are supposed to be: specifically Art. III, Sec. 4 which states that: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
If democracy is government by the people, as the word’s etymology tell us, there can be no democracy without freedom of speech and expression – and press freedom is the freedom of speech and expression as exercised by media practitioners, in the same way that academic freedom is the exercise of the freedom of speech and expression by members of the academe. A truly empowered people are free to say how the government should be run.
The freedom of speech and expression is particularly sacred to us artists since it is essential to our work that we have the liberty to say how we perceive the world and the human condition at a given time. If liberty is “the soul’s right to breathe,” as the lead character in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting so eloquently says, the freedom of speech and expression is the artist’s right to be.
It is this cornerstone of the democracy we are supposed to be, this right held especially sacred by artists, that is being undermined by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Consultative Commission on Charter Change.
Art. III, Sec. 4 of the draft constitution submitted by the Consultative Commission reads thus: “No law shall be passed abridging the responsible exercise of the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
The insertion of the phrase “responsible exercise of” is very much worth noting. It is not just an exercise in semantics, it is an insertion that though brief speaks volumes.
What is meant by a “responsible” exercise of the freedom of speech and expression? Nowhere in the draft constitution can we find the answer.
But the answer lies in the statements President Arroyo has been issuing from time to time.
“Let us cast aside the ‘bad boy’ image that the press has acquired,” President Arroyo said in her speech before the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) in Baguio City last November. “Let us restore its glory as the ‘responsible son’ of a democratic nation.”
She uttered these words at a time when she was under fire from the press because of questions on the credibility of her victory in the 2004 election, because of her government’s imposition of policies making life harder and harder for Filipinos – who mostly live below the poverty line if we go by the very statistics of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) – and because of rampant corruption and human rights violations under her watch.
We can see that as far as President Arroyo is concerned, we “responsibly” exercise the freedom of speech and expression when we refrain from criticizing the government. For her, the “responsible” exercise of the freedom of speech and expression is to “change the topic,” to talk about The True, The Good, The Beautiful while the country drowns in a sea of wretchedness.
This is a complete mockery not only of the freedom of speech and expression, but of the very tenets of democracy.
The signs show that a crackdown on freedom of speech and expression is at hand. History tells us that it is when freedom of speech and expression is curtailed that the days of darkness descend on the people.
We survived martial law and we must not allow it to rear its head again. Let us exhaust all available means to defend the basic democratic rights for which so many of the country’s finest sons and daughters have given their lives.
Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
January 8, 2006
Southern Tagalog Exposure
KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists’ Collective
KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Paolo Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama
Boom Dizon
Posted at 3:43:38 pm by stexposure
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Saturday, January 07, 2006
Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage in Hong Kong
Not all Filipinos go to Hong Kong to become migrant workers, or for the well-to-do, to cavort in the pleasures of Disneyland. From December 13 to 18 of 2005, scores of Filipinos joined thousands of activists in protesting against the World Trade Organization whose 6th Ministerial Conference was being held in Wan Chai.
The daily protest processions from Victoria Park to Wan Chai compounded by the (underestimated) cold of Hong Kong’s dry winter had its toll on protesters with delicate constitutions. Bruised and numbed limbs yearned to be free of the layers upon layers of clothes and ached for the warmth of pinoyland. To paraphrase Chairman Mao, our Hong Kong experience was no dinner party.
In a wealthy city like Hong Kong, I was struck by how people walk very fast and tend to mind, in a negative way, only their own business. I ran into locals who abruptly said that they don't understand English when engaged. I suspected that it was an excuse so as not to be interrupted from whatever-it-was-that-they-were-rushing-into. I felt that all the detailed signs, directions, electronic instructions and what have you were all part of a design to limit interaction and direct communication between persons. Call me paranoid-delusional but I am certain that Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong, who are mostly women, will agree that it is not the onslaught of cold winters against skin that has known only sun that is intolerable. What is unbearable is a city whose streets are filled with impassive strangers with nary a hint of a smile nor courtesy to the lost, wanting and bewildered.
These impressions about Hong Kong made it all the more the ideal city to rattle. WTO could not have chosen a more perfect place to hold its' ministerial conference. For a week, the streets of Hong Kong swelled with the richness and triumphant expression of internationalist solidarity. Many of us who took part in the week-long parallel activities comprehend more deeply and experientially the relevance of continuing and extending the hand of struggle. And I believe that the fight against imperialist globalization represented by the WTO was likewise internalized and embraced by the people of Hong Kong people who were compelled to witness the demonstrations.
Militance from South Korea
To say that the participation of South Korean farmers during the Hong Kong WTO protest actions created an impact is an understatement. South Korean protest actions throughout the week-long anti-WTO demonstrations captured both local and international attention.
The large contingent of Korean farmers, from the first day onwards, consistently set high the bar for militant protest action. Despite the language barrier that prevented non-Koreans from easily engaging the Korean farmers in dialogue, the Koreans sufficiently conveyed their resoluteness in dissenting against the WTO. Their form and method of protest action was creative, inspiring and arguably spiritual. During the 2003 protest actions against WTO in Cancun, Mexico, a Korean farmer named Lee Kyeong Hae, stabbed himself to death to literally impart the message that WTO kills farmers. During the Hong Kong protest actions, scores of South Koreans jumped into the icy waters of Victoria Bay to swim towards the convention center while others participated in a hunger strike that went on for weeks.
(under construction)
Posted at 8:48:55 pm by stexposure
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Sunday, December 11, 2005
Bonifacio Day Anti-Gloria Concert Rocks UPLB
It was at the same time a tribute concert to poet-revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio – whose 142nd birthday fell that day – and a protest concert calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The concert was organized by the Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria).
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Reposted from bulatlat.com
Photos courtesy of ST Exposure
One of the stories poet-literary scholar Gelacio Guillermo is fond of telling over bottles of beer is that of his days as a young professor at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna. That was way back in the late 1960s. He used to travel regularly, he says, from Diliman, Quezon City to Los Baños – and it then took all of two hours.
It took me three hours to travel from Quezon City to UP Los Baños last Nov. 30. It was late afternoon and I knew I had to find a way to reduce my travel time so I could get there by 7 p.m. A 15-minute ride on the Metro Rail Transit from Quezon Avenue to the Magallanes Station did it for me, and I got to Alabang, Muntinlupa City in less than an hour. From Alabang to Calamba, Laguna it took an hour, and traffic in Calamba made it take an hour for me to get to Los Baños from there. It was just a few minutes past 7 when I got there.
Most of the artists who performed there had traveled from Quezon City and Manila hours earlier, but I could imagine they went through the same amount of travel time. But from the way they performed at the event, it appears they found it well worth the long trip.
The Brockas
Cynthia Alexander
Blazing Bulalakaws
Wuds
It was at the same time a tribute concert to poet-revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio – whose 142nd birthday fell that day – and a protest concert calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The concert was organized by the Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria).
The concert opened with actors Pen Medina and Soliman Cruz portraying Bonifacio and Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, respectively. “Bonifacio” and “Rizal” went into a short discussion – punctuated by poetic exchanges – about the need for ousting the present President, with both in the end agreeing even as they acknowledged differences in tactics.
Actor Soliman Cruz
“The rationale behind that part is that we are giving a birthday tribute to Bonifacio in Laguna, which is Rizal’s home province and where most of his descendants still live,” said Kiri Dalena of the multi-media group Southern Tagalog Exposure, one of ARREST Gloria's convenors. “So they ‘came alive and crossed paths’ in Laguna.”
The exchange was followed by a string of musical, theatrical, and poetry performances interspersed with shadow plays and short video presentations. They were there: Cynthia Alexander, Dong Abay, The Wuds, Radioactive Sago Project, The Brockas, Agaw Agimat, Kwatro Beinte, Blazing Bulalakaws, Kilometer 64, Traumaligno, ARTIST Inc., Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan (KUMASA-TK), UPLB Umalohokan, Anino Shadow Play Collective, and Southern Tagalog Exposure.
The concert highlighted what was described as nine major reasons for ousting Macapagal-Arroyo: electoral fraud, the imposition of the Expanded Value-Added Tax (E-VAT), complicity in the U.S.-led war on “terror,” suppression of civil liberties, refusal to grant workers’ demands for wage increases, environmental destruction, corruption, refusal to assert sovereignty, and political killings. Most of the performers injected their own commentaries on these issues in their spiels before their numbers.
Kwatro Beinte
Kilometer 64
Agaw Agimat
But there were those who also performed pieces that directly addressed, or were improvised upon to directly address, the said issues. Traumaligno did for its first number a song opening with the oft-heard chant “Gloria Arroyo, pekeng Pangulo!” (fake president). ARTIST Inc. and Umalohokan did skits tackling the imposition of the E-VAT and the suppression of civil liberties, respectively. Kilometer 64 performed a long poem on the so-called “Hello Garci” tapes. Radioactive Sago Project’s Lourd de Veyra improvised on their hit song “Baboy” (pig) and added a few lines calling Macapagal-Arroyo biik (piglet).
Meanwhile, Dong Abay sang his protest-punk classic “Trapo,” which hurls invectives at corrupt politicians. The song was written and composed in the 1990s and does not refer to any particular politician, but the audience had no trouble relating it to the present political scenario.
dongabay
Artist Inc
Umalohokan
Radioactive Sago Project
KUMASA
Anino Shadowplay Collective
After the performances, Medina and Cruz would reappear – no longer as Bonifacio and Rizal but as themselves, reciting verses ending with a call for the arrest of Macapagal-Arroyo.
About 3,000 people watched the concert. “This is a big crowd for UPLB,” said Prof. Dennis Aguinaldo, who teaches at the university’s Humanities Department. The campus has an estimated student population of more than 9,000 and the crowd was surely as big as some of the multi-sectoral rallies that have been taking place in Manila.
UPLB was chosen as the concert venue because the organizers wanted to show that major protest actions can happen not only in Manila but also in the provinces, Dalena said.
The concert was produced by ARREST Gloria and Southern Tagalog Exposure in cooperation with Samahan ng Kabataan Para Sa Bayan, Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, Beta Sigma Fraternity, Pi Sigma Fraternity, Pi Sigma Delta Sorority, Sororitas Astum Scientis, Forestry Society, Sigma Alpha Nu Sorority, Gabriela Youth, UPLB DevComm Soc, UPLB Ibarang, UPLB League of Filipino Students, UPLB Anakbayan, UPLB Writers Club, UPLB Sarong Banggi and Umalohokan – with special support from Jhen's fastfood and take-out, Bonito's, Painters Club, Gabriela-ST, Pamantik-KMU, and Bayan-ST.
Bulatlat
Posted at 1:43:17 am by stexposure
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Friday, November 25, 2005
AERIAL STRIKES IN QUEZON TRIGGERS MASSIVE EVACUATION
dear friends in the media and networks,
please include in your news; also please send in your donations in kind or cash for relief of the victims. make radio phone-ins to condemn indiscriminate aerial strikes in massive disregard of civilian rights to life and property...
News Release
November 23, 2005
Reference Person: Guillermo Bautista, Chairperson of Katipunan ng mga Samahang
Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK) – cellphone # 09179061634
“AFP Aerial Strikes Triggers Mass Evacuation in Tiaong, Quezon”
Around 485 families and 2,213 individuals in Barangays Cabatang, Lumingon, Lusacan, Anastasia, Talisay and Lagalag in Tiaong, Quezon are forced to evacuate as the Armed Forces of the Philippines wantonly employed aerial strikes over these areas in a desperate attempt to crush elements of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA).
According to news from the Quick Reaction Team of Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, 230 families (901 individuals) are currently housed in evacuation areas in Tiaong, Quezon while 255 families (1,312 individuals) fled in nearby barrios away from the barangays indiscriminately being strafed by the AFP.
“The running encounter between the elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the revolutionary New Peoples’ Army in Tiaong, Quezon that started last Sunday, November 20, 2005 has taken its toll on civilians caught in the crossfire. Houses are torn down as the AFP continued its aerial strike in hot pursuit of the fleeing NPA rebels. News from the areas affected by the encounter that reached KASAMA-TK Human Rights Desk indicated that a child is in critical condition and many others wounded as the residents scurried for safety”, said Guillermo Bautista, Chairperson of Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA-TK).
“The implementation of indiscriminate aerial strikes by the AFP over civilian areas to crush their targets is a wanton disregard of the international humanitarian law on the rights of civilians caught in the crossfire in armed conflicts. We strongly denounce the massive disregard of human rights by the AFP in this mindless aerial strike and indiscriminate firing against the civilians” said Bautista.
According to wire reports, classess are now suspended in San Pablo City, Laguna and Tiaong, Quezon.
Orly Marcellana, Secretary General of KASAMA-TK strongly reacted to General Orbon’s statement early this morning stating that the evacuees will not be able to return anymore to their communities as their properties are already destroyed and their livestock taken by the NPAs. “From the accounts of civilian victims of military operations, for example in Bgy. Villa Minda, Lopez, Quezon, it is the military who take their livestock without permission, destroy and divest of their properties whenever they conduct counter-insurgency operations”, said Marcellana.
“Orbon has no right to say that people can no longer return to their communities as the people have every right to their properties and livelihood. They should be the ones to protect and ensure civilian rights and their safety even during military operations”, insisted Marcellana.
The Human Rights Peasant desk of KASAMA-TK together with KARAPATAN-Southern Tagalog are currently gathering facts on actual number of casualties and if the magnitude of damages and violation to the human rights of the civilians.###
Posted at 6:23:26 pm by stexposure
Permalink
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria!) will be in UP Los Banos on November 30 for a multi-media production featuring the artists Wuds, dongabay, Anino Shadowplay Collective, Radioactive Sago Project, Traumaligno, Blazing Bulalakaws, Cynthia Alexander, ST Exposure, Kilometer 64 poetry collective, The Brockas, Agaw Agimat, Kwatro Beinte, KUMASA, ARTIST. Inc, Umalohokan, Soliman Cruz and Pen Medina.
Produced by ARREST Gloria! and ST Exposure in cooperation with the Samahan ng Kabataan Para Sa Bayan, Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, Beta Sigma Fraternity, Pi Sigma Fraternity, Pi Sigma Delta Sorority, Sororitas Astum Scientis, Forestry Society, Sigma Alpha Nu Sorority, Gabriela Youth, UPLB DevComm Soc, UPLB Ibarang, UPLB League of Filipino Students, UPLB Anakbayan, UPLB Writers Club, UPLB Sarong Banggi and Umalohokan.
Special thanks to Jhen's fastfood and take-out, Bonito's, Painters Club, Gabriela-ST, Pamantik-KMU, and Bayan-ST.
Posted at 6:22:00 pm by stexposure
Permalink
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
ARREST GLORIA! Invites you to ASINTADO
Inihahandog ng Kilometer 64
sa pakikipagtulungan ng ARREST Gloria at UP UGAT
ang
ASINTADO: Makata sa Panahon ng Krisis
Isang forum ukol sa pagtula at pagsusulat sa kasalukuyang konteksto ng ligalig na kalagayan ng
bansa
C.M. Recto Hall, College of Arts and Letters
Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman
Biyernes, ika - 18 ng Nobyembre, 2:00 ng hapon
Mga Tagapagsalita:
Gelacio Guillermo
Prof. Emmanuel Dumlao
Lourd de Veyra
Allan Popa
Alex Remollino
Marjane Alejo
Mga magtatanghal:
Bobby Balingit
Kilometer 64
Tambisan sa Sining
Posted at 12:40:31 pm by stexposure
Permalink
Sunday, November 13, 2005
REVIEW NG SAMPOL NI DONG ABAY
SAMPOL
Bagong Koleksiyon ni Dong Abay
ni Soliman Santos
(Unang lumabas ang artikulong ito sa pahayagang Pinoy Weekly at inirepost mula bathatula,
ang blog ng manunulat na si Soliman Agulto Santos)
Gustong ilabas ni Dong Abay ang ilang kantang naisulat niya. Gusto niyang iparinig ang mga bago niyang gawang kanta kaya ipinanganak ang “Sampol”. Gayunman limitado ang kanyang odyens dahil kahit sa pinakapayak na paraan pinilit niyang mailabas ang koleksiyon na binubuo ng walong kanta. Limitado lang ang kopya, hindi hihigit sa isandaang piraso ang unang bugsong nailabas. Kwento ni Abay, tinulungan lang siya ng isang kaibigan para i-burn at mailabas ang ilang kopya.
Kapansin-pansin ang kapayakan kahit ng pabalat ng CD. Puti at itim na ilustrasyon sa papel na isinunod sa parisukat na hugis ng CD. Walang kulay, walang kislap. Pero may buhay sa loob ng mga kahong iginuhit ni Ninj Abay, ang nagdisenyo ng pabalat.
Sa pabalat ng CD, nilinaw ni Abay na disbanded na talaga ang Yano, pati ang Pan. Pero hindi lang pisikal na humiwalay si Abay sa naunang dalawang grupo, iniwan din niya ang maingay na kasakasan ng Yano at Pan. Bagaman malumanay rin ang ilang kanta ng Pan hindi hamak na mas salat sa kaskasan ang Sampol, acoustic kasi ang bersiyon ng mga kanta sa koleksiyon.. Malayung-malayo ang tunog ng musika niya ngayon dahil boses at gitara lang talaga ang maririnig sa bagong album.
Sa mga bagong kanta, si Dong Abay lang talaga ang maririnig. Siya ang lumikha ng musika at titik maliban sa “Solb” na pinagtulungan nilang gawin ni Onie Badiang, ang gumitara sa lahat ng kanta sa koleksiyon.
Tahimik ang Sampol ni Dong Abay pero hindi nito naalis ang matalim na pagpuna sa kaayusang namamayani sa kasalukuyan. Hindi man tahasan, pinag-iisip ng mga kanta ang tagapakinig na pansinin ang inaakalang “normal” sa lipunan. Mga simpleng imahen ang ginamit ng manganganta para ilantad sa pinaka simpleng paraan ang nakakamanhid na pangyayari at tanawin sa pang-araw-araw na buhay ng isang pangkaraniwang tao.
Awit ng Kambing ang pamagat ng unang kanta, simula pa lamang nanghihikayat na itong makinig sa malungkot na kuwentong hinango sa buhay ng mga pangkaraniwang tao.
Halikayo magsilapit/ Kahit na po ilang saglit/
Pakinggan ninyo itong awit/ Na di na mauulit
Pero wag pong magagalit/ Sa mga iguguhit/
Ang hagupit na sinapit/ Mapait masakit malupit
Binubulaga tayo ng mga ganitong kuwento sa mga dyaryo, radyo o tv. Sa Awit ng Kambing isinatinig ang dalawang kuwento ng trahedya. Isang bagong uwing OFW ang nakatuklas sa panloloko ng kanyang asawa nang mahuli niyang nakikipagtalik ito sa kanyang matalik na kaibigan. Dahil sa galit, pinatay niya ang kanyang asawa at ang kalaguyo nito pagkatapos ay binaril naman ang kanyang sarili. Sa isa pang kwento sa loob ng kanta, isang batang ginagahasa ng kanyang ama-amahan ang bumalikwas sa pagsasamantala, sinunog niya ang kanyang tiyuhin na sumunog din sa buong looban pati sa ang kanyang sarili.
Lutang na lutang pa rin ang tinig ni Abay at ang tugmaang ritmo na nauna na niyang ginawa sa mga nakaraang album maging ng Yano man o Pan. Pero kaiba ang Sampol, hindi sumisigaw si Abay maliban sa kantang WWW III, na waring naghahanap rin ng katahimikan. Aniya:
Bukas ba paggising ko/ Tahimik na, walang gulo, walang gulo/
Kung kailan ang linaw ko
Ang labo mo, ang labo mo naman, mundo.
Malinaw rito na iniisip ng awtor na tahimik o malinaw na ang kanyang disposisyon sa buhay subalit hindi umaayon sa kanya ang mundo. Patunay rin ito na hindi hiwalay ang isang indibidwal sa kanyang ginagalawang lipunan. Kailangang ulit-ulitin sa tonong nagsusumamo ang pagkasuklam ng kanta sa digmaan.
Walang tigil/ Sunud-sunod/ Walang hinto/ Gera!
Di pa tapos/ Walang Awa/ Tuluy-tuloy/ Gera!
Binabasag naman ng kantang Perpekto ang takot ng pagkakamali. Kung paanong nalilimitahan ang isang tao mula sa panlabas na puna. Inuukilkil ng kanta ang pagkalugmok ng tao sa sarili niyang kahinaan. Wika ng kanta
Wala. Wala namang perpektong tao.
Ano ba ang epekto kung meron kang depekto?
Mabigat ang paksa pero magaang pakinggan ang Perpekto.
Komentaryong pangkalikasan naman ang laman ng kantang Tuyo. Makulit ang kanta dahil sa paggamit ng mga kakaibang imahe na hindi karaniwang ginagamit sa mga kanta lalo na kung patutugtugin sa radyo.
Okay lang kung tuyo na ang aspalto walang swimming pool sa kanto/
Okay lang kung tuyo na ang kable, hindi ka na ulit makukuryente…
pero Dehins OK, kung tuyo na ang gripo, poso, balon, talon, sapa, o lawa.
Nagpapaalala ng pag-iingat ang kantang Segundo. Marahil nilalaman rin ng kanta ang kasalukuyang pag-iingat ni Abay sa buhay sa pangkalahatan pagkatapos dumaan sa mga pagsubok bilang musikero. Hindi ko sasabihin/ Lahat ng iniisip/ Sa halip ay iisipin/ Lahat ng sasabihin/ Itatangi ko ang bawat bagay-bagay/ Hindi lamang dahil sa kahalagahan nito/ Kundi sa kung ano ang kahulugang totoo.
Sa lahat ng kanta sa koleksiyon, Segundo pa lamang ang maririnig sa isang istasyon ng radyong nagpapatugtog ng musikang jazz.
Mapangahas naman sa paggamit ng tugma ang kantang Ay buhay na naglalaro sa tunog na ay, ang paboritong ekspresyon ng mga taong nagugulat -nahihirapan-napapabuntong-hininga.
Tambay sa tulay ang matandang pilay/ Akbay ang saklay/
Mata ay matamlay/ Ay buhay/
ngalay na ngalay kanyang kanang kamay/ Panay ang antay/
Grasya ay ibigay/Ay buhay…
Matirang matibay, ay buhay.
Naglalaro rin sa gamit ng salita ang kantang Solb.
High na high sa highway/ Solb na solb sa solbent/
High na high/ Solb na solb/
Sa highway/ sa solbent.
Paikut-ikot at pabalik-balik ang mga salita tulad ng inilalarawang persona sa kanta.
Bago ang Sampol ni Abay. Pagpapatuloy lang ng pagiging mapagmasid at matalas niyang komentaryo sa lipunang kanyang ginagalawan. Sa kabila ng kakapusan ng rekurso, inilabas ni Abay ang koleksiyon para iparinig ang kanyang tinig. Bukod dito, nangangailangan rin ng pera ang pobreng rakista para sa binabalak niyang bagong album. (Siya ang pinakamahirap na rock star sa bansa, ayon na rin sa kanya.)
Sa mga interesado, maaring makakuha ng Sampol sa tanggapan ng Departamento ng Pilipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas at sa Oz Cafe sa UP Diliman.
Sa kasalukuyan, abala si Abay sa paghahanap ng mga kabanda para mailabas bilang isang buong album ang 17 niyang kanta (kasama ang 8 kanta sa Sampol) na binabalak niyang iparinig sa mas marami at malawak na odyens. Dongabay ang itatawag niya sa kanyang bagong banda at Farmeryano ang bagong album. May pangakong pagbabago ang album kaya hindi dapat pagtakhan kung mabago ang areglo kahit ng mga naunang kantang lumabas sa Sampol.
Reposted from bathatula
Posted at 9:40:10 pm by stexposure
Permalink
ARREST GLORIA STATEMENT: SHOOT NOT THE MESSENGER
We in the Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria) find extremely objectionable President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s recent call to media to focus on “winners” and not “losers.”
“The coverage of kangaroo courts, lynch mobs and witch-hunts assails the peace of mind and the hope of our people,” President Arroyo said Nov. 10 in a speech before the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP). She was apparently referring to the media’s coverage of the Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) which has been gathering and scrutinizing evidence that was supposed to have been used in the aborted impeachment complaint against her.
President Arroyo may boast all she wants about her credentials – as she is wont to do every chance she gets – but her recent speech reveals that she knows nothing of the workings of the journalistic profession and has no right whatsoever to pretend to be an arbiter on how the media should do its job, in much the same way that the censors of the Marcos dictatorship had absolutely no qualification to act as judges on which artistic works should and should not be censored.
The job of a journalist is to report, or comment on and analyze the news, as it makes itself through a certain time frame – be it a day, a week, or a fortnight – inasmuch as artists play their parts by expressing uncommon perceptions of the world and the human condition through combinations of symbols, images, and other devices that appeal at once to the intellect, the emotions and the senses. President Arroyo has no reason to blame journalists if at present the press has nothing to publish or broadcast except bad news.
It is certainly not the media’s fault that massive corruption under her administration has contributed greatly to a fiscal crisis which the government seeks to remedy by imposing financial burdens on a people already deep in penury. It is certainly not the media’s fault that her alleged victory in the 2004 election is under question because of inexplicably discrepant election documents and tapes of conversations in which she is heard instructing an election official to rig the polls. It is certainly not the media’s fault that she has not lifted a finger to stop state forces from violating civil liberties and other human rights.
It is definitely not the media’s fault that her minions in the House of Representatives bent the law and legal processes to kill the impeachment complaint which sought to take up these issues raised against her in a legal venue. By this, her camp left the people no choice but to air their grievances before the CCTA – which, by the way, is not illegal as Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez claims but rather meta-legal, meaning not specifically provided for by law but not against the law either.
President Arroyo’s call to media to focus on “winners” and not “losers” reminds us artists of how former First Lady Imelda Marcos, during the martial law period, repeatedly pressured our colleagues to highlight “The True, The Good, The Beautiful” while the economy was on a downward trajectory because of pro-foreign and elitist policies, as well as corruption, and the rights of people seeking a better life for all were being trampled upon on a grand scale. We remember how fellow artists who chose to depict things as they really were – the likes of Pete and Eman Lacaba, Lorena Barros, Bien Lumbera, Ricky Lee, Valerio Nofuente, Wilfredo Gacosta, Lino Brocka, Behn Cervantes, and Bonifacio Ilagan among others – were punished by the Marcos regime.
There is reason to suspect that with President Arroyo’s growing antagonism toward journalists, a regime of press censorship is impending. More so because the Anti-Terrorism Bill that she is pushing for contains sanctions against journalists who interview anyone the government chooses or has chosen to brand as a “terrorist” – including those who lead legal and legitimate protest actions.
We artists hold sacred the freedom of expression. Freedom of the press is the freedom of expression as exercised by members of the media.
Without freedom of the press, journalists cease to be journalists. Without artistic freedom, artists cease to be artists. To tell journalists to focus on “winners” and not “losers,” to tell artists to highlight “The True, The Good, The Beautiful,” is to order them to kill themselves.
We refuse to kill ourselves. We enjoin our brothers and sisters in the media to do the same, and stand in full solidarity with all journalists who refuse to be silenced.
Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
November 13, 2005
Southern Tagalog Exposure
KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists’ Collective
KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Paolo Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama
Boom Dizon
Posted at 9:00:35 pm by stexposure
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