A day before Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA), Karapatan and SELDA today launched via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnCjfcdJ-vY&feature=youtu.be a call out video for flash mob as part of the campaign to release all political prisoners. Following yesterday’s launch of the “Awit ng mga Detenidong Pulitikal,” by the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), members of Anakbayan in Sampaloc and San Juan danced to the song that describes the plight of political prisoners and calls for their immediate release.
Karapatan spokesperson, Cristina Palabay said that the “video enjoins not only dancers but also all those who believe in the justness of the call to release all political prisoners to take part in the campaign, specifically in creating their own dance version, or MTVs on political prisoners, or by simply sharing and showing the video and the song.”
The groups encourage dancers from communities and schools, especially the youth, to use the song and dance steps for a nationally coordinated flash mob, details of which will soon be announced.
Political prisoners in 10 prison facility all-over the country are on their 7th day of hunger strike and fast, in time for the SONA, to call on Aquino to heed the call for their immediate release, saying that they are only in jail because of fabricated criminal charges. There are 385 political detainees to date, 107 of them were arrested and detained under the Aquino government.
Palabay added that protest performance art forms such as flash dances are being conducted by activists and cause-oriented artists in different parts of the world as tools to dramatize their social justice advocacies. “The life and struggles of the 385 political prisoners in the Philippines are a rich source of inspiration for creative expressions of protest and dissent,” she stated.
The songs’ music and lyrics was created by Clementine and was performed by The Camerawalls for the CAP. The dance was choreographed by Al Abraham, a son of a former political detainee and Mark Robles, a classmate at the University of the Philippines. ###
Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, 0917-5003879 Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580
