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Dispatches from the FrontFilipinos reclaim their heritage, history and culture with a weekend of performance and people power by Riya Ortiz October 1, 2003 New York City -- The voices of spoken word artists, musicians and former political prisoners resounded over a room packed with people at the Brecht Forum last Saturday night. RECLAIM: (Re)Affirming Our Culture of Resistance, organized by the Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign, drew over 200 people to an evening that was a fundraiser, party, performance and lesson on the Filipino people's continued struggle for justice. RECLAIM was conceived to commemorate two dates in recent Philippine history: September 21, 1972, the declaration of martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos; and September 16, 1991, the ousting of the US military bases. Reinforcing the collective memory of those dates, the evening's lineup included Linda Abad and Ramon Mappala, who gave stirring testimonies of their persecution under the Marcos regime. Later in the evening, Gloria Pacis, the mother of US Marine Stephen Funk, told of her son's courageous effort to speak out against the war in Iraq. The three speakers, together with interwoven stories of youth activists under attack under Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration, gave the audience a poignant message: that martial law must not be allowed to occur again, and that US militarization severely obstructs the people's self-determination in the Philippines and elsewhere. During these testimonies the audience was quietly reverent, then raucously supportive. "Free Stephen Funk!" the audience chanted as Gloria Pacis left the stage. Audience member James Oh said of the evening: "We (youth) tend to forget the history of collective struggle throughout the world. RECLAIM raised my awareness of the power of resistance in the Philippines." The musical performance by Mahina Movement and the boisterous spoken word performances by Mathilda de Dios, Ree Obaña, Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan, Chris Campos and Johanna Faith Cacho Almiron complemented the sobering testimonies by showing the audience that barriers to justice can be overcome by collective action. They involved the audience with call and response and simply made the crowd laugh and shout. "For one of our members this is the first time he's heard spoken word," said Leo Casayuran, a board member of Lakas Diwa, a Jersey City-based Filipino youth organization. "Rather than just listening to the news about what's happening in the Philippines and to Filipinos here, they hear it through rhythm." One of the event's organizers, Maria Doherty, said, "The event was phenomenal! There was an incredible energy from both the crowd and the performers. Everyone seemed to know that they were participating in the shaping of an important movement for justice. And it felt damn good!" The spoken word artists not only referenced events and political figures in the US and the Philippines, but also explored the interactive strains of culture as Filipinos, US-born Filipinos, and artists of mixed descent. Philippine heritage was an important feature of the evening; it was articulated with varying expressions of awe, ambivalence and conflict-but always as a unifying principle. The paintings of Monica Bauer and the performance of Kinding Sindaw, an indigenous dance and music ensemble, evoked the vibrant colors of the Philippine landscape, while the artwork of Margarita Garcia Liao critiqued ideals of exotic beauty and the orientalist eye. Dorotea Mendoza of GABRIELA Network drew the connections between martial law in the Philippines and the current US War on Terror. She updated the audience on the case of Professor Jose Maria Sison, a political refugee from the Philippines living in the Netherlands who has been designated by the US government and the EU as a "terrorist": "Professor Sison was a chief negotiator in the peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Philippine government. What terrorist takes part in peace negotiations? This attack on Professor Jose Maria Sison is an attack on the entire progressive movement in the Philippines." Mendoza's message was a fitting transition to the following day's events. On Sunday, RECLAIM participants joined with people of other communities whose homelands also experience US military intervention in a demonstration against US occupation in Palestine, Iraq, the Philippines, Korea and everywhere. Demonstrations were held simultaneously in over forty countries worldwide. Beginning with a rally at Columbus Circle, the Philippine contingent marched in the front leading the way to the Philippine Consulate. Waving flags and carrying banners that read "US Troops Out of the Philippines and Everywhere" and "Justice Not War in the Philippines," the marchers chanted "Stop the US war machine from Korea to Iraq to the Philippines!" At the Philippine Consulate, Ana Liza Caballes of DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association, a group fighting for the rights of migrant workers, spoke in opposition to the Arroyo government's complete support for the US War on Terror and the return of US troops to the Philippines. She was followed by RECLAIM performer Ree Obaña, who issued a call and response to the crowd: "Reclaim!! And Resist!! Reclaim!! And Resist!!" Obaña's performance at the demonstration may have been a fitting end to the weekend, but the work of the Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign will most certainly strengthen as long as the US military continues to violate the rights of the Filipino people. To learn more about the Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign, please visit the website www.justiceinthephilippines.org or call 212-561-1567. For pictures of these events visit: www.server4indallas.com/~fritz/albums/endocc/0928h.jpg www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=ozjv119.10ewlqnx&x=0&y=aoz6av www.ofoto.com/Slideshow2.jsp?Uc=pweuy2x.122ydu3p&Uy=-h8ll66&Ux=1&UV=344789388030_99230733605&collid=49731713605&photoid=82377413605&refreshkey=1064960178121&state=play Email this article to a friend |
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