Artists' group: 'Pugad Baboy' censorship a threat to freedom of expression

Calling the suspension and censorship of "Pugad Baboy" a threat to freedom of expression, artists' group Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) said this could "set a dangerous precedent for other publications and media institutions under similar situations."

 

"Pugad Baboy" creator Pol Medina Jr. resigned Friday night over an "offensive" comic strip, but Medina was not the only one at fault, according to CAP. 

 

"The responsibility for the offending strip goes beyond the individual artist in this case, but is also the result of interrelated factors, including editorial oversight," visual artist and CAP spokesperson Renan Ortiz said in a statement posted on the CAP website on Saturday.

 

Medina, who had been contributing to the Philippine Daily Inquirer for 25 years, apologized and resigned after the publication removed "Pugad Baboy" from its comics section. 

 

"As the long-time venue of Pugad Baboy, the PDI ought to have spoken up for the artist instead of panicking and disowning the artist," National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, chair of the Board of Directors of CAP, said in the statement.

 

The strip, which came out on June 4, was submitted in April 2013.

 

According to PDI, it was rejected for its insensitivity but was picked up for publication due to a mix-up. PDI apologized and removed the strip after St. Scholastica's College threatened to file a lawsuit.

 

Medina had mentioned the all-girls' school in his strip, which tackled the subject of Christian hypocrisy. "Galit kayo sa mga gays and lesbians pero sa mga sagrado Katolikong all-girls iskul na pinapatakbo pa mandin ng mga madre e kino-condone ang pagka-tibo ng mga

estudyante," one character said in the strip.

 

"O' nga 'no? Sa St. Scho e wala kang makikitang magandang Kulasa na walang girlfriend," another character replied.

 

According to Lumbera, the school was "cited only to give an example but is not the exclusive subject of the criticism."

 

"They are sensitive to the religious institutions complaint but they are less sensitive to other civil rights advocates complaint. The PDI is supposed to be secular newspaper. It did not even lift a finger to defend Pol Medina Jr. who belongs to their organization," said Professor Neil Doloricon, CAP Secretary General.

 

Not censorship, says PDI

 

But PDI publisher Raul Pangalangan said the removal of the strip was not censorship, but meant to give way to proper investigation, a report on GMA News TV's News to Go said on Monday.

At the height of the controversy last June 6, Pangalangan was quoted in a statement as saying that, "Contrary to erroneous news reports, P.M. Junior was not fired and remains a contributor. Pugad Baboy will not appear in the Inquirer, however, pending further investigation.
 

Doloricon defended Medina, saying he was "more political, more adventurous, stretching his political wit to the limit."

 

Ortiz noted that the controversial strip went beyond entertainment and served as a source of satire and relevant social commentary. The suspension and censorship, Ortiz said, "contradicts the PDI's legacy of asserting the right to freedom of speech and expression under the term of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

 

"He may be a villain to some, for his controversial satire on LGBT. But as the saying goes, cast the first stone for those who had not sinned. Are we not matured enough to be tolerant to this kind of milieu?" said Doloricon.

 

Cartoonist Gerry Alanguilan noted that this was not the only Pugad Baboy strip that PDI had rejected.

"It indicates that there is a certain amount of editorial control, and that there are still some strips that PDI feels perhaps the public cannot handle. But this strip about Lesbianism in Catholic schools was approved by PDI Editorial and was published in the newspaper. Any politically, or religiously charged strip will always gather controversy, and this one was no exception," Alanguilan said on his blog.

 

He also questioned St. Scholastica College's protest, saying Medina was "simply pointing out a hypocrisy committed by others."

 

Material for comedy

 

Even before the controversial comic strip, netizens were abuzz over the question of what is and isn't acceptable material for comedy. Medina's suspension followed another controversy, this time about a rape joke made by comedian Vice Ganda in his concert on May 17.

 

"Rape is not a joke and should never be material for a comedy concert," said GMA News anchor Jessica Soho, who was targeted in the joke.

 

The comedian has since apologized.

Meanwhile, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board met with Vice Ganda and executives of ABS-CBN and reminded them of the dos and don’ts of comedy bar humor.

 

Meanwhile, the Philippine Commission on Women urged workers in the entertainment and media industries to practice censorship, sensitivity to feelings, and gender responsiveness.

 

On the issue of Medina's controversial comic strip, comedian Gabe Mercado said, "Don't be in a rush to silence comics just because they have offended you."

 

"First of all, those who were offended have every right to be offended and they should be furious and indignant if that's the response the piece provoked in them. However, I am worried about a culture that demands apologies of comics and satirists—especially those that have a body of work that truly makes us think about hand me down notions and unspoken cultural assumptions," Mercado said on Facebook.

 

Mercado, founder of Silly People's Improv Theater, urged his readers to "imagine a Philippines where everything is politically correct, proper and everything is done in immaculate good taste."

 

"Eeek. How boring. How brain numbing. How predictable. We would just be setting ourselves up for Groupthink on a national level," said Mercado, noting that provocateurs have an important role and an important place in our society.

 

"The best of them make us laugh and then make us think. The very best prod us into action," he said. —KG/RSJ, GMA News