“My orders are to the police and military,
also the village officials,
that if the situation arises that people fight
and your lives are on the line,
shoot them dead!”
To be honest, if it’s possible to just stay at home, I would,
instead of going out to shoot.
But, under the current situation,
information is being controlled by a few.
If there is no alternative media
there will be no checks and balances.
That’s why we’re going out of our homes
to know the stories that are not being followed
by big media corporations.
"Media personnel shall be allowed
to travel within the quarantine area
provided that within 72 hours
from the issuance of this memorandum
media personnel intending to travel within the quarantine area
shall secure an identification card
from the Presidential Communications Operations Office."
Actually, it’s preposterous that one needs to get accreditation from them.
Does this mean they exclusively get to choose which media outfit can operate?
But despite our protest
we still filed for accreditation.
We are still waiting for it until now.
Before we went there
somebody texted us that security was strict in the area
due to a positive Covid case.
In turn, we discussed whether we should proceed to the area or not.
We decided to proceed despite our anxieties.
We are also concerned with our safety and health.
JL: Do you have any message to the government?
Estrelita: We are calling for continued support to our community kitchen.
It is for all the people in the community.
We will not die from the disease, but we might die from hunger
if we can’t eat three times a day.
Woman 1: We are going around
Let’s do social distancing!
Woman 2: You are overcrowding!
Boy: Give us some biscuits!
JL: I think the major weakness of the government,
compared to other countries,
...
is the lack of mass testing.
It’s as if people were put in jails not knowing if the disease is inside with them.
Quarantine won’t serve its purpose without any testing.
I belong to the middle class,
but I am a freelancer.
My income depends on my production.
EngageMedia: What is that?
JL: Relief goods from the barangay.
That is my predicament.
But within a month, I only received a relief pack just once.
There are about 15 or 14 canned goods.
I just hope those who are impoverished receive more than once a month.
During a lockdown like this, you are inside your home,
not just me, but most of my friends
and fellow artists,
most are stuck at home,
you surmise the positive things that arise despite the lockdown.
One positive thing is the emergence of artworks that are socially relevant
both in form and content.
I belong to a group, the Asian People’s Music.
It is a group of progressive musicians from countries that belong to the ASEAN.
Joseph, a Filipino musician who is also part of the group,
and a member of the band Village Idiots,
composed a song, and here it is:
♫ When this is over ♫
♫ Is it back to normal? ♫
When you go out of your house
what you see in the streets are people holding a cardboard,
some banners stating “we are hungry,”
"no mask, no entry," those are the images you see.
Texts written on cardboards, paper, or whatever is available.
Based on what I saw I had an idea: Why not write some lyrics
the same way as those images?
That’s what we did, and the musicians were okay with it.
♫ When this is over ♫
♫ Are we going back to the familiar? ♫
♫ To a violent way of life ♫
♫ Full of fear and dread ♫
♫ We will straighten wayward roads ♫
♫ Shout out our calls ♫
♫ A better society ♫
♫ When this is over ♫
We are raising a question in that song.
The lyrics say when this is over, do we simply leave things as they are?
We are raising this question because
this crisis exposed the kind of society we have.
The government will feel the wrath of the people
if the situation remains the same.
And we think, or at least I personally do think,
the situation should change, and that we need to make a stand.
♫ A better society when this is over ♫
♫ We will rise when this is over ♫