“Let us value the life of each cultural worker affected by this crisis. What we need is immediate response toward the realization of our collective well being, right to health, and freedom to create and speak up.”

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – JK Anicoche, 33, is scraping his savings to live by.

As a performance-maker at Sipat Lawin and Komunidad X, Anicoche earns from production and creation grants from local and overseas cultural institutions and performance-festivals, from crowdfunding and project-based engagement with local government units and NGOs. The lockdown has put all of these projects in midair.

“Most of our work is grounded in live community engagement – research, workshops and performances with disenfranchised communities, indigenous peoples, inter-cultural exchanges. Most projects were cancelled if not postponed to 2021,” Anicoche told Bulatlat in an online interview.

The enhanced community quarantine imposed all over Luzon also coincided with the peak season for artists like Anicoche. Summer workshops usually held from April to May have to be called off. Their summer earnings would have helped them survive the rest of the year.

Anicoche lives with two other cultural workers. All of them have been affected by the lockdown.

Anicoche and his colleagues at #CreativeAidPH and Concerned Artists of the Philippines initiated an online petition calling on the government to provide immediate assistance to artists and cultural workers.

In particular, they are demanding the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to reallocate “its abundant 2020 budget approved under the General Appropriations Act” to aid freelance artists, cultural workers, and creatives deeply affected by this pandemic.

Very limited assistance

The NCCA’s assistance for cultural workers is limited to the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program, where beneficiaries will be paid the minimum wage for ten days of sanitation work and the 5,000 cash subsidy under NCCA’s Assistance Program for Cultural workers under the State of Calamity.

At least 748 have applied for TUPAD as of April 19, according to NCCA’s Facebook page. The cash subsidy, meanwhile, targets 800 beneficiaries.

The NCCA released on April 8 its memorandum regarding its assistance program for cultural workers. Artists and cultural workers decried that the NCCA management committee did consult the 19 duly-elected arts and culture committees.

The NCCA National Committee on Cinema, in a statement, rejected the program, branding it as “arbitrary, limited, partial, and has no clear benchmarks.”

Anicoche’s Sipat Lawin has applied for DOLE’s cash subsidy under another program, COVID-19 Adjusted Measures Program (CAMP), but has not received any response yet.

Cultural workers who signed the online petition are proposing that NCCA’s 2020 budget be reallocated to provide immediate cash relief for freelance workers in the arts and culture sector, through a disbursement process that is transparent and accessible to the public.

Based on NCCA’s Procurement Plan for the year, the government agency has P267.2 million at its disposal.

CAP urged the NCCA Management Committee to hold long overdue consultations with the arts and cultural workers community. “They should reallocate funding and transform existing programs into COVID-19 responses for the Philippine arts community, and through a transparent, accessible, and equitable process where no one is left behind,” Lisa Ito, CAP secretary general, told Bulatlat in an online interview.

Artists have also taken the campaign to social media, posting their photos with the hashtags #NCCAloka, #NCCAAnoKaMo and #ArtistsFightBack and tagging NCCA Executive Director Al Ryan Alejandre.

Besides cash subsidy, Anicoche also maintained that institutions need to create more remote work opportunities as the damages is six months or more beyond the months of lockdown. “People will be afraid to gather again in public events for a certain time and this greatly affects our way of generating sources of income from doing live events and performances,” he said.

Anicoche also called on government to create capacity-building workshops or webinars to assist artists how to bring practice to virtual sphere and learn ways to monetize these workshops.

Some projects that Anicoche leads like the Virgin Labfest at the Cultural Center of the Philippines eventually shifted to becoming virtual so as to continue providing work for a lot of theater-makers.

He worries more for independent artists who produce their own content and for freelancers waiting for companies to give them work. “They are the most affected as they have lost all sources of income.”

A survey conducted by #CreativeAidPH and supported by Nayong Pilipino Foundation reveals that the mean income loss of 499 Philippine freelancer respondents since January is P98,209 ($1,925.14).

One of the respondents shared, “I have no income at all since January. I extremely say I am broke. And I am a single mother with a daughter who’s now in 2nd year college in UST.”

Another respondent said, “We only eat one meal a day to try to make our food supply last, as there is no guarantee that this quarantine won’t be extended.”

As CAP’s Lisa Ito pointed out, “Let us value the life of each cultural worker affected by this crisis. What we need is immediate response toward the realization of our collective well being, right to health, and freedom to create and speak up.”

The post Artists, cultural workers call for immediate assistance amid lockdown appeared first on Bulatlat.

BY JOHN AARON MARK MACARAEG
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Former Anakpawis Partylist lawmaker Ariel Casilao is among the seven volunteers detained in a police station in Norzagaray, Bulacan after responding to a group of volunteers earlier apprehended for distributing relief aid yesterday, April 19.

Casilao and two others were part of a quick reaction team who responded to the six volunteers of Sagip Kanayunan and Tulong Anakpawis relief operations who were earlier arrested that day.

“Lockdown or not, basic human rights must be upheld at all times,” Casilao said.

Read: 6 relief ops volunteers arrested sans charges

In a fact sheet provided to Bulatlat, peasant rights group Tanggol Magsasaka said Casilao’s team arrived at the Norzagaray police station at 12:43 p.m. to negotiate with Lt. Col. Jaime Quiocho, who heads the station. Casilao’s group was allowed to leave at around 1:30 p.m. to turnover their relief goods to their beneficiary village.

A few minutes later, however, Casilao and the rest were told to return to the police station, per instruction of police regional head Brig. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia.

Tanggol Magsasaka said Sermonia later arrived at the police station, reprimanding and red-tagging Casilao and his colleagues.

“Other police officers witnessing the incident laid out the fliers and the tarpaulins of Sagip Kanayunan and Tulong Anakpawis on the floor, and took videos of the volunteers while they were being reprimanded by Sermonia,” according to Tanggol Magsasaka.

Copies of Pinoy Weekly ang Linang Publications, containing an information drive on how to combat the COVID-19 pandemic were also seized.

Casilao was later told that they will be facing charges in violation of the guidelines set by the Enhanced Community Quarantine or the lockdown currently in place in Metro Manila and the whole of Luzon.

In a text message sent to Bulatlat late Monday evening, Casilao said they have undergone medical examination but he has yet to have his mugshot taken yet. He added that he noticed that the charges against them included violations of Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act and for inciting sedition.

Still, no charges are pressed against all nine of them as of this writing.

Their arrest, too, came on the heels of the military’s confirmation of a leaked document where they are preparing for a “martial law-like” lockdown as the Philippine government continues to grapple against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Casilao considered their arrest as illegal and pure harassment as the police “chose to criminalize” their initiative instead of giving them “their utmost cooperation.”

He added, “we will face these baseless trumped-up charges and prove that providing aid is not a crime.“

The post Former lawmaker among arrested in Bulacan en route to distribute aid appeared first on Bulatlat.

“This is harassment, plain and simple. We have no violations. The police also can’t justify why they are refusing to release our volunteers. We are in a crisis situation. Now is not the time to prosecute activists and cause-oriented groups who are engaged in humanitarian and relief efforts.”

By AARON MACARAEG
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Six volunteers were arrested at around 10:30 a.m. today after their jeepney carrying relief goods was flagged down at a checkpoint in Norzagaray, Bulacan, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).

The volunteers were part of Tulong Anakpawis and Sagip Kanayunan and were supposed to distribute relief goods to fellow agricultural workers affected by the Luzon-wide lockdown.

Those arrested were initially brought to Norzagaray Police Station and then to the Provincial Philippine National Police Office in Malolos, Bulacan. As of this writing, no charges have been filed against them, KMP said.

The police did not give any reason on why they arrested the volunteers. KMP said their volunteers did not violate the protocol cited in the recently passed Republic Act 11469 or Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. KMP added that they have also complied with all the necessary requirements for their activities.

KMP said authorities confiscated the relief goods. The volunteers were told these would be turned over to the local government for distribution. KMP’s food pass, a requirement needed to transport vegetable produce that the farmers sell via online farmers’ market Bagkasan, was also confiscated.

Copies of Pinoy Weekly magazine and KMP leaflets were among those seized.

Former Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said in a statement, “This is harassment, plain and simple. We have no violations. The police also can’t justify why they are refusing to release our volunteers. We are in a crisis situation. Now is not the time to prosecute activists and cause-oriented groups who are engaged in humanitarian and relief efforts.”

Bayan Muna Representative Eufemia Cullamat likewise condemned the arrest of the volunteers, saying it is an indication of the de-facto martial law in the country.

Earlier today, Armed Forces of the Philippines Spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgardo Arevalo confirmed the planned “martial law-like” implementation of extensive enhanced community quarantine.

Cullamat added there is no basis for the arrest. She called for the immediate release of the volunteers.

The post 6 relief ops volunteers arrested sans charges appeared first on Bulatlat.

“This targeting and arrest is a vicious attack on freedom of expression amidst the continuing failure of the national and local governments to ensure expanded and systematic mass testing and a comprehensive public information drive on the pandemic.”

By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — In an attempt to quell criticism, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has ordered the arrest of an outspoken Duterte critic and respected multimedia artist, Maria Victoria Beltran.

Beltran was apprehended 12:30 a.m., April 19 in her home in Gorordo Avenue, barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City for alleged violation of Art. 154 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

“This is clearly harassment, designed to stifle dissent and enforce conformity,” Atty. Vincent Isles, counsel for Beltran, told Bulatlat in an interview.

“This is a clear indication of a city administration completely divorced from the reality of its people. Instead of providing solutions to contain the virus infecting the city, the city mayor shows his pettiness by picking on a netizen who simply exercised her Constitutionally-guaranteed right,” he added.

Fake news?

Before the arrest, the mayor threatened Beltran in his official Facebook Page (@EdgarCLabella): “FAKE NEWS ni and this is a criminal act. Hulat lang Ms Beltran hapit na ka madapan sa PNP Cybercrime Unit. Magtingkagol gyud ka sa prisohan. (This is FAKE NEWS and this is a criminal act. Just wait Ms Beltran the PNP Cybercrime Unit is now about to arrest you. You will surely rot in prison.”

Time-stamped at 2:14 PM on April 18, 2020, Saturday, it referred to an April 17 post of Beltran, wherein she said, “9,000+ new cases (All from Zapatera) of COVID-19 in Cebu City in one day. We are now the epicenter in the whole Solar System.”

Known for her satirical posts, “#DearDigong… Sincerely, Maria,” Beltran’s post satirized reports from the City Health Officer which claims that the whole Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz, Cebu City was considered to be infected and thus massive swab testing was to be stopped.

Sitio Zapatera has a population of around 9,000.

A statement issued by her counsel before her arrest and posted in Beltran’s Facebook account reiterated that Beltran’s post is satirical, “designed to show wit instead of spreading chaos, anarchy, fear, or confusion,” as such does not fall on the category of the crime she is accused of, which is defined as “clearly geared to promote chaos, anarchy, fear, or confusion.”

A chilling statement

“We decry Mr. Mayor’s threat to involve the PNP Cybercrime Unit, and his reference to a warrantless arrest, which we believe is not proper under the circumstances,” the statement continued.

“The threat of the mayor of a warrantless arrest sends a chilling effect to everyone else on social media, including those who are not happy with the way he had handled this crisis on behalf of the people of Cebu City who had given him mandate to lead,” it said.

Arrest, an attack on freedom of expression

In a statement, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) condemned the arrest and raised the alarm on reports of rising attacks “against freedom of speech and of the press in the Visayas region and the National Capital Region.”

“This targeting and arrest is a vicious attack on freedom of expression amidst the continuing failure of the national and local governments to ensure expanded and systematic mass testing and a comprehensive public information drive on the pandemic,” it said while highlighting that the voicing out of opinion by citizens on social media “should not be suppressed in any functioning democracy by the state.”

“We challenge the mayor to focus on his mandate and local response to containing local transmission of COVID-19 especially in marginalized and vulnerable communities under his jurisdiction because lives are at stake,” it added.

In a statement, Movement Against Tyranny Cebu also denounced the arrest of Beltran, saying that Beltran’s post was in response to “the vague proclamations made by the Cebu City Government and the Department of Health stating that the entire sitio is considered to be contaminated and infected.”

Continued attacks on Beltran

The statement also pointed out the growing number of comments on Beltran’s Facebook account, attacking her person.

“We deplore the continued attacks on critical and vigilant voices on social media by troll armies or pro-administration accounts whose comments can constitute acts of harassment, vicious red-tagging, cyberbullying, and even libel,” it said.

As of press time, Beltran’s counsel is negotiating her release.

The post Cebu-based artist jailed for satirical post appeared first on Bulatlat.