Freedom songs
Stefan Christoff
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Filipino folk singer Levy Abad strums a political message
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The Centre for Philippine Concerns pairs up with artists to spread the word on oppression factors in the Philippines
In the Philippines, music has always played a key role in social movements, from the internationally celebrated protests that led to the ousting of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 to more recent struggles surrounding political killings that have targeted union leaders and human rights workers (violence that has been tied to the current president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, an key ally of the Canadian government in Asia).Artists in the Philippines have often been politically persecuted because of the important role that cultural workers play in the major social movements in the country. Under Ferdinand Marcos, poets, writers and musicians faced prison, and more recently artists including filmmakers and poets have faced kidnappings clearly linked to the government security forces of President Macapagal-Arroyo.
This weekend in Montreal, artists will raise awareness and express solidarity with Philippine social movements as well as the local struggles faced by migrants from the Philippines, namely Filipinos working in homes as nannies or house cleaners here under Canada's Live-in Caregiver Program.
One of the artists performing on Saturday night is Filipino folk singer-songwriter Levy Abad, a celebrated cultural figure within progressive movements in the Philippines and within the diaspora community in Canada (Abad is currently based in Toronto).
"There is serious oppression today in the Philippines. As an artist who serves the interests of the Filipino people, I am calling for progress, for
critical thinking, so that the situation in my country can be transformed from a system that is today defined by our exploitation from multinational corporations, including Canadian companies," explains Abad. "Growing up under the Marcos dictatorship, a time that saw great turmoil, music transformed me. In creating my own music, my songs began to focus on multiple issues in the Philippines, from war to environmental destruction, all the issues that keep our nation from developing - it is this story that my songs tell."In Manila, the link between social movements and the arts is clear, as political folk songs from singers like Abad are featured prominently at political rallies and in human rights campaigns.
"I learned poetry early on as a student and then learned to play music as a young man at university in Manila," Abad continues. "Unfortunately, even though Marcos was ousted, our situation hasn't improved as a nation. Everything in our country is becoming privatized: from health care to education, our entire country is being sold off to foreign companies by our government. The government doesn't give back money to the people - we are indebted to the World Bank and IMF, so huge amounts of our national budget goes to paying foreign debt."
As a country, the Philippines faces intense poverty: According to the United Nations, an estimated 45 million people in the Philippines live on less than two U.S. dollars per day, a situation that the country's left-leaning social movements directly link to economic policies driven by multinational institutions.
While contending with poverty, the Philippines is also trying to deal with the issue of political killings. It is estimated that since Macapagal-Arroyo took office there have been nearly 900 political killings in the country, with the vast majority targeting leftist social movements. Philip Alston, UN expert on extrajudicial executions, stated in 2007 that "the Armed Forces of the Philippines remains in a state of almost total denial of its need to respond effectively and authentically to the significant number of killings which have been convincingly attributed to them."
Saturday night's benefit for the Centre for Philippine Concerns is a way to bring attention to these major concerns and highlight how artists are targets of politically motivated violence as well. "Cultural workers have been targeted by contemporary repression in the Philippines," explains documentary filmmaker Malcolm Guy, who is active in the Centre for Philippine Concerns. "Poets have published entire books written in prison, artists arrested and jailed without proper trial or due process."
Levy Abad, Kalmunity Vibe Collective, Latin American music ensemble Acalanto and Valerie Khayat
April 25, 8 p.m.
At Bar Populaire (6584 St-Laurent Blvd.)
For more information, visit the Centre for Philippine Concerns
