EDITOR’S CORNER
Solidarity vs. a government of thugs
W By Joel Pablo Salud
hen I read Eamon Gilmore, the European Union special representative for human rights, say in relation to the Covid-19 dilemma, “No one should be left behind, and no human right ignored,” we know there’s a great deal of loose knots to tighten up in the fight against this unrelenting virus. Gilmore said in an article in the BusinessMirror, “We recognize that there are many people for whom this crisis, and sometimes the measures taken to address it, will add even greater risks to their already fragile existence: refugees, the displaced, the homeless, minorities who are already victims of discrimination, children who are being abused or maltreated, women subjected to sexual or domestic violence, marginalized indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, older people, and the poor who are at greatest risk from the economic consequences.” In a country like ours where little-league thugs rule and fiefdoms mark the boundaries of power and corruption for the day, one needs to ask one’s self how and why the powers-that-be, as a matter of everyday governance, have stooped this low. French public intellectual Alain Finkielkraut does not attribute such acts of “barbarism” to prehistory’s after-effects, or in his words “the inheritance of pre-history,” but a “companion that dogs our every step”. And dog our every step it does since the onset of the enhanced community quarantine. The recent shooting of former Philippine Army Corporal Winston Ragos by a police officer, the violent attempt to arrest a Dasmariñas Village foreign national, the mauling of a fish vendor by Quezon City authorities, the harassment of a medical frontliner in Cebu City, the illegal detention of a Polytechnic University of the Philippines student in Sta. Mesa, the barring of entry of medical frontliners at checkpoints, and the continuing intimidation of government critics tell us there’s more to
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government wanting to “flatten the curve” than meets the eye. An expert on U.S. arms policy, William Hartung, wrote in CNN.com recently about the Philippines’ methods of dealing with the pandemic: “While it has militarized the streets and given orders to shoot and kill anyone fighting back and threatening security forces’ lives, the Duterte regime has given the military near total control of the relief effort, with the body overseeing its disbursement of aid controlled by a panel of current and ex-generals. “At least one hospital has raised the issue of lacking protective equipment, while Amnesty International’s Philippines executive director has accused security forces of ‘putting curfew violators inside dog cages’ and ‘beating up people with sticks.’” Carlos H. Conde, Asia Division researcher for the Human Rights Watch (HRW), also reported: “Local government officials have taken action against critical journalists. The governor of Cebu province sent an intimidating message to the editor of a campus newspaper for criticizing the government’s COVID-19 response. Neighborhood leaders in Nueva Ecija province called in the editor of a campus paper to press him to apologize for publishing critical posts. “On Thursday, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno disclosed on Twitter that the NBI had subpoenaed a Facebook user for his critical posts, citing the COVID-19 law. ‘This has become a concerning trend because it is easy for the government to blur the line between legitimate criticism and ‘fake news,’ Diokno told Human Rights Watch. Diokno’s decision to take on this case prompted President Duterte to publicly accuse the lawyer of encouraging people to violate lockdowns.” Notwithstanding the spectacle of violence and disorderly conduct among officers of the law, some still regard the abuses as entirely necessary
for a population largely blamed for being “undisciplined”. The question is: who is being totally and unabashedly undisciplined? All who had seen the video knows there is nothing disciplined about pointing a gun at Corporal Winston Ragos (who was unarmed) from roughly 10 feet away while his back was facing five police officers. He was later shot after facing the officer for several minutes without a gun in hand. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon staked a lot more than her neck when she posted on Twitter her reaction to the shooting, “The video will be the best evidence. The deceased did not have a gun and did not point a gun at the policeman.” The police who shot Winston Ragos “should have been arrested” or placed under custody immediately after he killed Ragos, Guazon added in an interview with the Inquirer. “‘First shot was murder, since no unlawful aggression sa part ni Winston Ragos. Wala syang baril na tinutok kay Daniel Floredo (he did not point any gun at Daniel Florendo),” she added.” For whatever unsavory purposes the officers may have, even barbarism pales in comparison to this act. In fact, words fail me in my attempt to describe the mauling of a fish vendor in Quezon City for not wearing a mask. How many of these
incidents remain unreported? In another Twitter post on Apr. 23, Guanzon said, “Public opinion is against a white wash Chief @PNPChiefGamboa, so please investigate this objectively at huwag kayong pumanig kay Florendo (do not side with Florendo). Let truth and justice prevail. The credibility of the PNP is at stake, it is more important that Sgt florendo @pnppio.” This reminds me of what English-American essayist Christopher Hitchens said on the subject of leadership: “The people who must never have power are the humorless,” which, to me, hits the nail in the head. I think Eamon Gilmore makes a solid case in favor of not squandering the future through the vitalizing power of solidarity: “This is a time for solidarity and for human rights to be at the center of our endeavors,” Since this crisis began, we have seen millions of small acts of kindness, and stirring solidarity across the world. The indomitable spirit of humanity is displaying its great generosity. Our global human family will come through these frightful days. The changed world to which we will emerge will be all the better for the care and compassion we show each other now. Let us not squander that future, give in to fear or our lowest inclinations. Let us not forget that human rights define our very humanity.” G
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COVER
Writers in a time of lockdown By Alma Anonas-Carpio
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even weeks into the lockdown of Luzon with a bit less than two more weeks of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to go, and the world looks like it has come uncomfortably close to the fictive realm of several dystopian stories—yet the apocalypse in those novels and short stories is brought about either by alien invasion, a zombie pandemic, nuclear annihilation, global upheavals in the environment, or the gods going crazy. But nobody could have predicted that one tiny virus invisible to the naked eye, with a relatively low kill rate as microbes go, would shutter the world and change the landscape of it so drastically on a global level. The Philippines Graphic reached out to five writers for their lockdown stories: Author, politician, radio personality and Malaysia-based teacher Danton Remoto; businessman, speculative fiction editor and writer Dean Francis Alfar; 2017 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards Poet of the Year and jewelry designer Anne Carly Abad; spoken word artist, radio show host and poet Kooky Tuason and; 2016 NJLA Poet of the Year and teacher Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta.
For Remoto, “the emotional effect is that I have to learn how to discipline myself. Like I see some posts saying, ‘I do not know how to cook.’ I am like, ‘hello, so what will you do now, wail?’ There are recipes in the internet and YouTube and if you are literate, you can just follow them, right?” “My father was a military man and he instilled discipline in us, taught us to have spines of steel,” he added, quoting his father: “’You will never know when an emergency will come.’ This is an emergency situation we have right now. So yes, I am at home, but life never stopped. I have to teach two online classes, supervise the theses of 15 students, manage a school and write my three books.”
LOCKDOWN EFFECT
The isolation, anxiety and fear a pandemic brings, along with the sense of isolation from quarantine, can be harder on the mind than the body.
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Danton Remoto: author, politician, radio personality and Malaysiabased teacher
Remoto takes extra care to stay healthy, and help where he can: “Physically, I have to walk around the hall every day for 15 minutes at least, to stretch my body. Economically, we get paid our usual salary from the university.” He said he also sold copies of the Philippine edition of Riverrun “so I can send money home for groups and individuals asking me for donations. I have sold P50,000 worth of my novel and have sent the money home for distribution to the needy (both in cash or rice, plus canned goods). I also sent money to Rock Ed Philippines, run by the indefatigable Gang Badoy-Capati, to make PPE (personal protective equipment) for our medical front-liners.” Most of the effects of this lockdown on Abad, “are emotional in nature,” she said. “We had house help before the ECQ. As privileged as this sounds, having our house help with us helped me produce my art. I grew up in a family where the men never did housework. That made me fear for my future as a woman, because I could never work on my art back then without being seen as lazy (read: ‘Shouldn’t you be mopping the floor, or something?’).” The day dawned that Abad’s kasambahays also had to be with their families, and “when our helpers could no longer come in, I have to be honest, that did happen in my family. We degenerated into that same status quo that I so feared when I was young. But we’re working on it.” Katigbak-Lacuesta said that “emotionally, I’m fearful and paranoid (which are useful in emergency situations). It’s also easy to eat one’s feelings—fear and paranoia lend themselves wonderfully to carbs and tinned meat.” Alfar, meanwhile said “we are a family unit with our share of anxiety, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and depression. Apart from making sure that the prescription medicines are sourced, we help each other cope with a balance of conversation and silences, activity and rest.” He also said that “we all miss our other family members and friends. We are lucky to have each other here and now, and we electronically bridge the distance between us and our faraway loves. I exercise regularly to harvest the happy chemicals and stay as fit as I can. Economically, we are living on savings as income has become strained.” “I lost weight,” Tuason said, laughing in her email reply with a “haha” when asked how the ECQ affected her.
Dean Francis Alfar: businessman, speculative fiction editor and writer
“Coming to terms with this, and finding my way towards acceptance of a whole new level of uncertainty has been hard. Moving past grief is impossible right now; I am in the thick of it. My mind is slower and the world outside is threatening. But I will get to that point. I have to. We all do. The world has changed.”–– Dean Francis Alfar
REAL DIFFICULTIES
Wrestling with unwanted changes and a lack of control over the environment one is in can be mentally taxing, so working on what one can control is key. “Dealing with grief is the most challenging aspect of the ECQ for me. Grief over the loss of what I knew. Grief over the loss of financial stability.
Dean and family
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COVER
» Writers in a time of lockdown to my students once a week, my sister, and my partner. They save me from talking to myself 24/7.” “Really, for now, the inability to imagine a world where this is all over and the kids are all alright,” poses difficulties for Katigbak-Lacuesta. “It’s not that I’m not hopeful, I just can’t guess at what the future holds.” “Running out of food and having to risk going out,” are Tuason’s main concerns. “Also other possible sources of cash flow.” So she takes these “one day at a time.”
HEADSPACE
One of the challenges in this ECQ is dealing with one’s mental and physical health given the surrealism of this very real situation humanity finds itself in. Katigbak-Lacuesta said that her headspace, “varies from day to day. There are hopeful days, and days when I know I should be trying harder. I feel like locals from post-lockdown countries— parks and streets and old haunts brightly call to you, but you know COVID cases are likely to spike after lockdowns are over. Knowing this, what do you do? Every day is full of precarious choices.” “I’ve been chronically anxious since this thing began,” Abad said—she used to suffer from asthma. “I couldn’t sleep for the most part, and then I read somewhere that a lot of people were experiencing the same thing, being unable to
Anne Carly Abad: 2017 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards Poet of the Year and jewelry designer
Grief over the lost world,” Alfar said. “Coming to terms with this, and finding my way towards acceptance of a whole new level of uncertainty has been hard. Moving past grief is impossible right now; I am in the thick of it. My mind is slower and the world outside is threatening. But I will get to that point. I have to. We all do. The world has changed.” For Abad, “the difficulties are mostly domestic in nature, as we’re trying to navigate a better way to do things at home. I want to raise my son without these assumptions that women are in charge of the home. That’s proving to be harder than I thought during lockdown.” “The worst,” Remoto chimed in, “is that you have no one to talk to. That is why I love talking
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sleep ‘til witching hour strikes. It started getting better. I’ve been able to fall asleep because I got used to being unable to go out. And that scared me even more.” For Alfar, “the realities of the ECQ have hit all of us hard, necessitating tremendous adjustments to the new reality.” He added that “the days feel like they have blurred into each other, and my sense of time has become affected. Pushing toward 50 days of our common situation, it continues to be a negotiation between hoping that things will end soon and accepting the fact that this will last longer than we think. For me, it is matter of maintaining the physical, mental, and emotional health of my family and myself.” Remoto said he is “all right because I am used to working from home. I just had to learn Microsoft Teams which is the preferred mode of online teaching in my school, the University of Nottingham in Malaysia.” He teaches two subjects, and supervises “undergraduate and postgraduate theses as well. I
also have to attend administrative meetings twice a week and do consultation with students Microsoft Teams three times a week.” Tuason said she is an introvert, so “I’m in my natural habitat. I keep myself preoccupied with creative work.”
IN THEIR HEADS
For Alfar, the simple act of going out for replenishing supplies is already something that requires mental preparation. “My primary concern is the health of my small family,” he said. “My wife and daughters are consistently exposed to me after I return from sourcing food, medicines, and other supplies.” “I am constantly worried that I will bring back the virus to them,” Alfar said. “I do my best to minimize outside contact, but it is impossible to completely do so. We order what we can online, but I gather the rest of what we need from the outside.” What he does to ease
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Kooky Tuason: spoken word artist, radio show host and poet
COVER
» Writers in a time of lockdown
Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta: 2016 NJLA Poet of the Year and teacher
his anxiety over this is to “follow quarantine protocols for safety.” Alfar added that “work is my other big concern. Adjusting to 100% work from home for all of my employees and managing the projects and accounts of my design agency has presented its own set of challenges. We do what we can to ensure the survival of the business.” Remoto’s focus shifts outside his person: “My main concern is what mode of teaching we will be using. As Head of School, if we are going to
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use online or blended teaching, we have to be prepared in terms of technology.” “My other concern is that the publication of my book, Riverrun, A Novel, has been postponed by Penguin Random House because of supplychain issues. My original launching dates in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom have been postponed,” Remoto said. “We do not know yet if we can launch, but we already booked a booth at the Manila International Book Fair on the 3rd week of September 2020.” On a more personal note, Remoto said he “got accepted at a major writing residency in the USA, one of the two toughest in that country, and they are giving me free airfare, but it has been postponed as well.” Katigbak-Lacuesta set out her points of focus: “I have three main ones: How to stay alive, how to make sure my family and I are still able to sustain the families of the people whose livelihoods we are responsible for, and how to keep things ‘normal’ for my nine-year-old son, whose questions about mortality, and whose heightened fears keep both of us up at night.”
“I’m dealing with the first two concerns deliberately and straightforwardly,” she added. “With the third concern, I have to be a little more creative and keep things light. I feel like a magician who has to misdirect my son’s attention, or a politician who answers big questions glancingly. Processing [the experiences under lockdown] is something we can do together at a later time.” “A part of me wanted to believe that I could trust the government to plan something out despite being reactive. But the days dragged by and we never heard anything beyond the prohibition to get out of the house,” Abad said. “I waited and waited, and there was nothing more ever heard from [my] barangay nor the Quezon City Government. The nothingness is my main concern because now I know we are being governed by a system that knows only to prohibit and inhibit. It has no creativity, no problem solving capability, and no intention to change.” So Abad has taken to addressing the matters she can: “I’ve been working with industry partners in using our 3D printing capabilities to make face shields for the front-liners. We used those machines for making fine jewelry, which is my small business
as a sole proprietor. Now we’re using them to help instead of waiting for something to happen.”
LITERARY LIFELINE
Literature is a comfort to people who love reading and serves as tool for catharsis among writers. It is an anchor in uncertain times. “I read poetry to bring me back to myself,” Katigbak-Lacuesta said. “I write poetry to keep me sane.” This oft-repeated writer’s mantra takes on a new dimension amid the social isolation of COVID-19’s global spread, and in the toll of lives the pandemic has taken. Sanity is a precious thing, even more so now. “I write a lot. I am writing my second novel. Penguin Books has commissioned me to translate Banaag at Sikat, a novel by Lope K. Santos, and Far Eastern University Publishing House has commissioned me to translate the ambahan poems of Quintin Pastrana into Filipino,” Remoto said. “I also have a daily podcast called ‘Remoto Control’ that I post on www.dantonremoto.com, and I write a weekly column for the Philippine STAR.”
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COVER
» Writers in a time of lockdown
“Poetry and fiction have been my friends in finding meaning in all this,” Abad said. “Despite how people laugh at the idea that the earth is healing, it’s an idea I’ve been avidly exploring since the pandemic. In what ways can something as massive as a planet ‘heal’, anyway? It’s got all the potential for a fantasy or science fiction piece, if you ask me. Imagining a sci-fi future during the current apocalypse helps me cope with all the doomsday gloom.” Tuason uses literature to cope “by writing. I’m also catching up on my reading.” She is also “organizing my bookshelves, setting a date to read and re-read titles that speak to me.” “Literature offers us multiple comforts,” Alfar noted. “During the ECQ, we read for entertainment to keep our hopes up and escape for a brief span of time. We read to keep abreast of the developing health situation nationally and around the world. We tell each other stories, recovering memories of better days. I keep a sporadic journal to help maintain my sanity. I am nowhere as productive as I usually am, creative-wise, but I accept that I am dealing with these unexpected circumstances at my own pace.” A shared load is a burden made lighter, and literature is one way for people to share the load of COVID-19’s immense global burden.
PENS DOWN
“I’ve been creating jewelry designs to produce when things do normalize,” Abad said. She also explained her strategy: “Ever since the lockdown, I’ve been swamped with child care, cooking, cleaning, and laundry work, that I barely had time to make any art. So now I make it a point to have at least one or two hours for me to maintain the sharpness of my mind and my pencils.” “To cope, we’ve poured ourselves into our household chores, taking pleasure in cooking all sorts of dishes with what we have in our pantry. Laundry has become a family affair. We maintain the cleanliness of our home,” Alfar said. “We all agree on the importance of routine in these trying times, so we put up a schedule for regular housekeeping and maintenance,” his explanation comes with a practicality many people don’t often credit writers with. “We also have a lot of individual space—we give each other room to breathe or
One other thing that the world gains from its writers are insights into things the rest of the world is too busy to examine closely. zone out or sleep, before we gather together to plays games or watch anime. We sing and dance. We pray.” Katigbak-Lacuesta deals with the realities of the ECQ head on: “I throw myself headlong into my work and try new things with my son, and watch movies and have drinks with my husband.” For Remoto, the mundane and the escapist mix very well: “I read fiction, since fiction transports me to other places and makes me inhabit other people’s minds. I also cook since I do not have a housekeeper in Malaysia. I do my weekly grocery in the supermarket at the ground floor of my condominium unit in Kuala Lumpur. And on weekends, I clean the house. I also call up my sister with Down’s Syndrome; she is based in Bulacan. Lastly, I talk to my partner, James, who lives in Cebu.”
WRITERLY INSIGHTS
One other thing that the world gains from its writers are insights into things the rest of the world is too busy to examine closely. “We can survive anything,” Remoto said. “William Faulkner, in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, was right.” “We are stronger than we think we are,” Alfar mused. “Family truly is everything. There is a lot of material things that we really don’t need. And love and longing are powerful forces.” “The very first insight I’ve drawn is that we are not beyond Earth,” Abad said. “Despite space travel and trans-humanism, the elements that make up our bodies are deeply tied to the Mother.” Katigbak-Lacuesta, meanwhile, feels “the project isn’t over, so it isn’t time for a postmortem yet. Maybe, for now, there’s no such thing as being too safe, or too careful, or too extra.” Tuason’s insights inform her decisions: “To make the most out of life, to make every
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second count. Also to take a break. It’s good for the soul, the psyche and the body. It is also important to share what you can even with the little that you have.”
PREPARING TO EMERGE
As of this writing, less than two weeks remain for the extended ECQ. As surely as COVID-19 has changed the landscape, the pandemic has also changed how people think and feel—and possibly how the social fabric of humanity is woven. “We are just living by the day,” Abad said. “We’re more focused now on surviving and helping others survive this thing. I can’t quite see life after ECQ.” Katigbak-Lacuesta said she is making preparations “by taking things one day at a time, and making a deliberate effort to live each day as fully as I can, even if we’re constantly derailed by news, political gaslighting, fear, and inhumanity.” “Businesswise, we have to find ways to pivot and adapt to the new reality,” Alfar said. “Otherwise, we will close shop, which is an unacceptable scenario for me.” He also expects that “school is will be different as well, requiring adjustments. How we will push on not just to survive but to live happy lives—all of that is a work in progress.” Zooming into his home, Alfar added: “Here, within our isolated cell, we already have the seeds. We will make through to the other side, and once there, we will find ways to thrive.” Remoto takes a more systematic and pragmatic approach: “I have listed down the needs of the school for online or blended teaching. I have emailed the airlines whose tickets I had to rebook [I already have tickets for the Philippines, the UK and the USA]. I have prepared a schedule of walking and going to the gym since I gained pounds from being locked in.” He also said “I am definitely preparing for the multi-country book launching of Riverrun, A Novel. Advance reviews have been good. Bookriot.com, the largest independent platform for the book publishing industry in the USA, has called my novel ‘one of the 5 most anticipated books by an Asian author for 2020.’ For that, I am grateful.” Tuason’s preparation is short and sweet: “To adapt and improvise along the way.” G
COVER
Journalism under fire in a time of pandemic
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he International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says that journalism faces a crisis in this time of COVID-19.
According to the results of an IFJ survey of 1,308 journalists in 77 countries, “three in four journalists have faced official restrictions, obstruction or intimidation in reporting on COVID-19.” The same report by IFJ said: “Two-thirds of staff and freelance journalists have also suffered pay cuts, lost revenue, job losses, cancelled commissions or worsening working conditions, according to the survey carried out by the IFJ between 26-28 April.”
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A man wearing a mask reads a newspaper at a bus terminal which has been shut down for more than a month as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kochi, Kerala state, India on Apr. 29. India’s news publishers face a delicate balancing act as they look to offset financial losses from sinking ad sales with support from a government seeking to control the narrative on the coronavirus, sometimes by prosecuting journalists for reporting on the detrimental consequences of official pandemic policy. (AP PHOTO/R S IYER)
COVER
» Journalism under fire in a time of pandemic
People wearing protective clothing attend the funeral of a victim who died from the new coronavirus at a cemetery in the outskirts of the city of Babol in northern Iran on Apr. 30. (AP PHOTO/EBRAHIM NOROOZI)
The IFJ is the world’s largest organization of professional journalists, representing 600,000 journalists in 146 countries.
LOSS OF INCOME
Besides facing increased restrictions and obstructions, “nearly every freelance journalist has lost revenue or work opportunities,” the IFJ reported. More than half of all journalists surveyed, the group said, “are suffering from stress and anxiety,” and over a fourth of the journalists surveyed “lack essential equipment to enable them to work safely from home, while one in four lack any protective equipment to work in the field.” On top of this, the IFJ also said “dozens of journalists have been arrested, faced lawsuits or been assaulted, while over onethird of the journalists surveyed “have shifted their focus to covering COVID-19related stories.” “When asked about the state of media freedom in their countries the vast majority said it had [gotten] worse,” the IFJ report said. “From Greece to Indonesia and from Chad to Peru journalists used words such as precarious, problematic, terrible, worse, declining and restricted to assess the media freedom environment.” The survey respondents “also exposed the toll on journalists with many citing job losses, longer hours and fewer resources as obstacles to proper coverage of the pandemic. In many countries the lack of social protection networks and fair employment practices are driving journalists to desperation,” the IFJ reported.
The IFJ quoted a female Peruvian freelancer: “The state is unprepared for this pandemic, there are sectors in total abandonment by the authorities, corruption continues, while at the same time media companies have shown they do not have institutional policies to alleviate our despair, such as the lack of income. Many families are on the edge of poverty.” One Greek woman journalist also told IFJ that “I work more but earn less money and the newspaper owner I work for owes me and my colleague over seven months’ pay but the government does nothing about this.”
INCREASED ATTACKS ON PRESS FREEDOM
According to the IFJ, “many journalists complained of increasing attacks on media freedom. Almost one in four journalists said they had faced growing difficulties accessing information from government or official sources. Many reported being verbally attacked by politicians. Others complained of restrictions on asking questions at press conferences and restrictions being imposed on the movement of journalists during the crisis, including the withdrawal of recognition of press cards. Some worried that the total focus on COVID-related stories meant other important issues were being ignored.” The IFJ quoted a female Brazilian journalist: “The federal government despises journalists. It attacks the press every day for the information it publishes and discredits and humiliates journalists.” A male journalist in India was also quoted by the IFJ: “Press freedom has become
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increasingly restrictive. Journalists have been arrested for reporting stories highlighting the government’s shortcomings.” The survey respondents, according to the IFJ, “also praised journalists for risking their own safety to report on the pandemic and for trying to seek out independent sources and counter disinformation.” One Portuguese journalist said: “There are bad situations—more press release, less real reporting, press conferences without questions, we work more hours, a lot more hours, cell phones don’t stop, we are confined, always working, it’s bad for our health. Yet there’s also a sense that we are going through extraordinary times and journalists are responding, there’s more motivation to report. Like with doctors and health staff, this is also a time for journalism.” The International Press Institute (IPI) media freedom monitoring has tracked 162 media freedom violations across the world thus far, with 13 arrests/charges filed against members of the working press in Asia and the Pacific, three in the Americas, 14 in Europe, four in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and nine in Africa. The IPI tracker also recorded restrictions on access to information: Six incidents each in Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, Europe and MENA, with one case recorded in Africa. Cases of censorship monitored by the IPI on its tracker include nine cases in Asia and the Pacific, two in the Americas, six in Europe, four in MENA, and six in Africa. Excessive fake news regulation has also been monitored by the IPI in these areas: Three in Asia and the Pacific, two in the
Americas, six in Europe, three in MENA, and one case in Africa. The IPI also recorded verbal and physical attacks on members of the working press: Nine in Asia and the Pacific, 10 in the Americas, 17 in Europe, and 15 in Africa.
NEED TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT REPORTAGE
The IFJ said the survey’s findings “back up calls made by the IFJ and representatives of more than 200 million working people across the globe for urgent action to save jobs, protect independent media and fund quality journalism.” According to the IFJ, the Global Platform for Quality Journalism, a call by journalists’ unions in 146 countries, demands urgent measures to protect and reinforce public interest journalism including: * A tax on the revenues of tech giants such as Facebook and Google to create a global fund to support independent media * The use of tax and fiscal policy to reduce the burden on journalists and media * Health and public advertising campaigns to support local media IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “These results show a worrying trend of declining media freedom and cuts to journalism at the very time when access to information and quality journalism is so crucial. Journalism is a public good and it deserves public support and an end to political obstruction and interference.” The IFJ said the journalists who took part in the survey from were from Angola, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Luxemburg, Macau, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uganda, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The data accompanying the survey results stated that 42% of respondents were female,
One Portuguese journalist said: “There are bad situations—more press release, less real reporting, press conferences without questions, we work more hours, a lot more hours, cell phones don’t stop, we are confined, always working, it’s bad for our health. Yet there’s also a sense that we are going through extraordinary times and journalists are responding, there’s more motivation to report. Like with doctors and health staff, this is also a time for journalism.” 58% male, and that 57% were employed, 43% were freelancers.
GLOBAL IMPACT STUDY
Meanwhile, the International Center for Journalists and Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism announced on Apr. 9 that they are launching a joint study on how COVID-19 is transforming journalism. The ICFJ and Tow Center for Digital Journalism aim to map the impact of the crisis on journalism and how journalists are responding to it. “Along with the human toll of COVID-19, there is also a deadly blow to a growing number of news outlets,” ICFJ’s Global Director of Research Julie Posetti, said. “If journalism is to survive the pandemic, we will need quality research to help inform the recovery. This study aims to do just that.” According to the ICFJ announcement on its website, the “Journalism and the Pandemic” study “kicks off with an international survey of reporters and news organizations to assess how the pandemic is transforming the daily business of newsgathering and publishing. It comes at a time when journalism’s role in informing the public and holding governments to account has never been more critical. At the same time, disinformation, safety risks and press freedom threats are mounting.” Posetti and Tow Center Founding Director and Professor Emily Bell will lead
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the longitudinal study, examining effects of the crisis on journalism over time. Specifically, the research team is examining how COVID-19 is: * Transforming journalism practice and the business model *Propelling nformation and triggering new ways to combat it * Increasing journalism safety risks and demanding urgent responses to them * Creating new global media freedom threats, intensifying existing threats, and triggering the need to insulate against them “The researchers are asking journalists, editors and other news producers from around the world to support this research by participating in the survey. To this end, they will partner with ICFJ’s newly launched Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum, the International Journalists’ Network (IJNet), and the extensive networks of Columbia Journalism School and the Tow Center.” “Newsrooms worldwide are under intense financial, physical and psychological pressure during this pandemic,” Bell said. “By partnering with our colleagues at ICFJ to understand both the short and long-term impact of COVID-19 on journalism we can provide a basis of knowledge for encouraging much needed support in the field.” Since 1985, ICFJ has worked with more than 140,000 journalists from 180 countries. Its International Journalists’ Network (IJNet) reaches more than 150,000 media professionals each month in seven languages.—Alma Anonas-Carpio
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Himati and the art of listening to poetry By Joel Pablo Salud
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OVID-19 is a death sentence to some, a prison term to many. May 4, 2020
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Government came up with a solution to the crisis: to hide behind the walls of our houses— to us who have houses. Still, it did little to ease our fears, more so our apprehensions for what could be a future wracked with unwelcome change. Yet, not all changes seem unsolicited or unwelcome. One
such change we see at the moment would be for such houses to finally be turned into homes—warm, obliging, involved with one another. Where one can now spend time with himself foremost, and families next. Not in the harried manner by which we had treated the safety of our four walls in the past, but, possibly, now, with some relaxation, maybe even laughter. We talk about the “new normal” when we should be talking about a new realization, this heightened awareness of what we may have been missing in the hustle and bustle of the life we once knew. And we see it everywhere in cyberspace while people are under quarantine: the enjoyment of music, dance, song, yes, even the reading of poetry. People taking videos of what they do best behind closed doors. Cooking. Dancing. The sharing of a song or two. The telling of stories to children. The writing and reading of poetry.
To Cordero, life is a movement of infinite—and intimate— sequences of phenomena and literature’s role in such phenomena is to imagine it. This is what Himati seeks to accomplish: imagine what connects us as Filipinos.
Poetry. You may ask, what could literature seek to accomplish at a time like this? Wasn’t it the German philosopher Theodor Adorno who said that after Auschwitz, to write a poem is barbaric? Yet the same philosopher recanted in a later essay, saying “Perennial suffering has as much right to expression as a tortured man has to scream. Hence, it may have been wrong to say that after Auschwitz you could no longer write poems.” The discourse surrounding the writing and reading of poems in times of extreme suffering, the act being accused of bourgeois subjectivity, memorializes our proximity with the arts at a time when life hangs in the balance. That it would take a virus for us to stop and listen to the cries of our bodies, to remember the songs of our youth, perhaps even listen to a bit of verse, tells us how far we’ve missed the mark years before the lockdown.
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And so, we pin our hopes today on anything and everything that, finally, makes us human and humane by nature. We now explore the flipside of our former restlessness, finally realizing that when all is ill and weak and torn, one must first drop everything in order to listen. Kristian Sendon Cordero’s Himati is exactly that: our chance not only to listen to our bodies at a time of suffering, but our souls. It’s a Bikolano word with more than sufficient spirituality to it than some might initially think. It’s the act of stepping back when things aren’t going too
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» Himati and the art of listening to poetry
When we think of the poem’s message, it is about life, about continuing, living on, surviving. And part of our platform is to give out these poems for free.
well, a kind of “coping mechanism” which allows us to see things from varying perspectives. In short, to listen and, perchance, to learn. “The project helps to keep our sanity intact,” said Bikol literature’s enfant terrible. “Life is different today. I thought back then that we’ve mustered enough courage to go against the tide. Immediately, we saw ourselves holed up in our rooms, afraid of what this virus could do to us. The change is abrupt, almost without warning, thus it’s very challenging for all of us.” For Cordero, the idea came as a way to maintain his initial goals of bringing literature into the lives of people. Savage Mind Book Shop and Ateneo de Naga University Press were in the middle of a full-blown literary campaign—publishing and selling books— shortly before COVID-19 struck. “It’s difficult when you think about it,” Cordero said. “There is no equality in our society, thus encouraging people to read books at a time when they hardly have enough on their table might be thought of as a bourgeoisie privilege. I am aware of the issues surrounding this. However, I also believe that literature will always have a role in people’s lives, especially during crisis. While we, as writers, always face the dilemma of asking what our roles are at a time of national tragedy—you know, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t—still, I believe that having art on our side means we have survived.” Himati began as a modest idea between Cordero’s Savage Mind, author Tito Valiente, and Fr. Wilmer Tria of the Ateneo de Naga University Press. During the initial talks, Cordero and Valiente immediately thought of veteran actor Jaime “Jimmy” Fábregas as the first reader of the poems. Fábregas, as we all know, was behind such awardwinning films as Mumbaki. “And so, we gave him poems written by Luis Datu, Luis Cabalquinto and Marne L. Kilates,” Cordero said. “Jaime always has this
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tender heart for Bicol. He’s an alumnus of Ateneo de Naga High School and has been very supportive of the local film festival here. He was the ideal reader.” Cordero could not have predicted, much less anticipated, the people’s response to the project. People are familiar with Fábregas’ role as Police Director General Delfin S. Borja in the hit TV series, Ang Probinsyano. The reading of poetry unveiled another side to Fábregas people knew very little about. “Imagine the image of a police general, one people are more familiar with, starting to recite a poem in Bikol. It’s out of this world,” Cordero said. “Lui Quiambao Manansala reading a poem, who has been working with independent filmmakers in her frequent role as a babysitter (yaya) of the character of Bea Alonzo, comes off as a welcome change to many. I am very interested in that kind of shift.”
Because of this, it didn’t take Cordero long to get other celebrities into the fold. Sue Prado, Enchong Dee, Max Eigenmann, Sandino Martin, Christian Bables and Lui Quiambao Manansala all gave their nod to the reading of poetry written by National Artist for Literature Rio Alma, Enrique Villasis, Jun Belgica, Merlie Alunan, Jaya Jacobo, Luis Datu and the poems penned by Cordero himself. Award-winning journalist Inday Espina-Varona was captivated by Enchong Dee’s reading of a poem by Kahlil Gibran (translated into Bikol by Fr. Wilmer Tria). In a Facebook post, Varona said, “I could understand without read the subtitles. The next time, I looked... gorgeous artwork. And gorgeous Enchong. He is so different from what I remember of him.” Jose Mari Callueng, former head of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, has this to say:
“Listening to Enchong’s poetry reading recently had me all the more fall for him.” To this captivating ensemble of readers, the project itself proved virtually life-changing. After reading Jaya Jacobo’s poem, Sue Prado said: “Jaya Jacobo’s ‘Kansyon ni Oryol is a poem one reads with the heart. Having read it in Bicol, I actually ‘read it from memory’- hearing my grandmother, mom, and her siblings chattering away in my warm childhood memories. I have never really spoken the language until Jaya’s poem fortuitously found me.” What to many might seem just a simple reading of a poem had turned Prado’s involvement into recalling memories long buried and nearly forgotten: “Bikol, as a place and language, grounds me,” Prado said. “My mother’s family hails from Libmanan, Camarines Sur. Growing up hearing them speak the language, Bikol has become a language of a part of my history- of hard work, sacrifices, and love. This is an homage to my mother. And with deep gratitude to Savage Mind, Jaya Jacobo, and every soul who lovingly toiled in the creation of this collaboration, it also presents a glimmer of hope amidst this seemingly endless twilight we are all treading through.” As for Lui Quiambao Manansala, the experience brought her face to face with a language which, while being part of her own life in relation to her Bicolano Quiambao relatives, didn’t quite resonate with her fully until Cordero took it upon himself to assist her. A truly learning experience, if I might add. “Before video recording,” Manasala said, “I had to rehearse the poem over and over again until I got into the groove, until I got to feel and visualize the elements and meaning of the poem. It took me more than 10 takes, I guess. Glad that this was not an actual shooting for a production. I didn’t want to be branded as “cause of delay”. I sent several versions of the Soneto 2 reading for Kristian’s approval. Finally, Apr. 20, my first Bicol
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Himati has something to do with affliction and listening deeply to our bodies at a time of affliction.
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» Himati and the art of listening to poetry
reading was up in Facebook. I am proud to be described as a Bicolana, now reading poetry of and for my kababayans.” According to Cordero, the varying nuances in the Bikol language also received prominence during the recital of the poems. Enchong Dee and Jaime Fábregas are from Naga City, highlighting a very different Bicolano from Lui Quiambao Manansala, who was from Albay. “I think what Himati did was provide the platform for all kinds of Bikol,” said Cordero. “For all kinds of melodies to be heard. Himati is a Bikol word for a deep kind of listening which involves feelings. Especially in a country like the Philippines, we really have to focus on listening to the multitude of linguistic melodies. This, I believe, is our first act of healing. It is a very apt image, more so now that we are in this situation. We get healing through language and this is humanity’s best kept secret.” Cordero took the idea further by saying that those who perceive literature as something irrelevant at a time of tragedy offer a very limited view of the world of art. To reduce the idea as “elitist,” he said, is misinformed. “In so far as our episodes are concerned, I believe we have achieved some level of healing,” Cordero said. “We’ve been able to display the variety of languages and melodies we
can tap for this kind of healing. We also provided translation because translation, to us, is another work of art. Datu, Cabalquinto and Kilates wrote in English because it was the call of the times. But they, too, are promoters and advocates of the Bikol language, especially Datu who was writing his essays in Bikol. And this is the goal of Himati: to know the poets involved and their roots.” The project is not limited to Bikol but other Filipino languages as well, Cordero explained. “Christian Bables will be reading in Visayan. Since he volunteered to read to Visayan, we gave him a Visayan poem. Ateneo de Naga University Press has published a collection of poems in Visayan with a translation in English. This is where we also want to highlight the importance of translation. You see, government directives, policies under lockdown: these should all be translated into
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Filipino. This will increase the knowledge capabilities of the people. This shows us that translation is a general requirement and extremely necessary in this country.” To Cordero, life is a movement of infinite—and intimate— sequences of phenomena and literature’s role in such phenomena is to imagine it. This is what Himati seeks to accomplish: imagine what connects us as Filipinos. And so here, the project emboldens trans-regionalism, the interconnection of the archipelago through language, through translation of languages, regardless of where these came from, with the hope of shaping one cohesive culture embodying literature. “This is what we are doing at the Ateneo de Naga University Press prior to the lockdown.” Likewise, this continuum should be gleamed in our national celebrations, Cordero said. “Our activities for
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Literature Month, which is April, should not end when May comes. That’s a very bureaucratic mindset. For example, in Himati, Max Eigenmann will be reading a poem by Merlie Alunan and the production resembles that of a movie. There will be Bikolano actors participating in this movie. There ought to be some continuity and regions should be building each other up.” This is where language becomes heritage, Cordero said. “These poems tell us that art is about surviving. When we think of the poem’s message, it is about life, about continuing, living on, surviving. And part of our platform is to give out these poems for free. In fact, we’re thinking of coming out with a book using this material and give them for free to our teachers. We’ve not paid any of the actors a single centavo. They participated freely. Himati, too, is a conversation on what is essential at this time: healing through language, through art. Himati has something to do with affliction and listening deeply to our bodies at a time of affliction. So, it’s the perfect word for the project. In short, these poems should lead us to the real world, to real situation on the ground, not just social media. That’s our call,” Cordero said. “We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” says author Ray Bradbury. Poems are no different. The literature of any age is a receptacle of memory wrought in the furnace of human language; memory which tells others that we have lived, and will continue to live for as long as these tales are told and retold. Himati aims to accomplish more: to weave a linguistic heritage for a nation long divided at the very roots. And let it here be said that it all began in Bikol. G
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aand
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