PDEA chief Aaron Aquino. INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Being a music critic is not the job of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), an artists’ group said Friday.
The Concerned Artists of the Philippines said in a Facebook post that it also found it ridiculous that PDEA “has the gall—and the time and resources—to ask the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-Aawit (OPM) and ABS-CBN Corporation to halt the distribution” of Shanti Dope’s rap song “Amatz.”
“Everyone is free to debate on the merits of the song, and its repetitive message of a “natural high” can be interpreted in many ways,” the artists’ group said.
“One thing, however, is clear: it is not PDEA’s job to be a music critic. Neither is it is mandated to promote censorship and the suppression of artistic expression,” the group added.
“We warn the PDEA: Leave the cultural commentary to the musicians, the fans, and the public at large,” the group’s statement read. “Instead, focus on your mandate to jail the big druglords who still roam free. No less than President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police admitted in recent statements that the country’s drug problem has ‘worsened.’”
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino earlier asked the MTRCB to ban the airing of the song, claiming that the lyrics allegedly promotes the recreational use of marijuana.
READ: PDEA asks MTRCB to ban ‘Amatz’ song for ‘promoting use of marijuana’
Shanti Dope’s management then slammed PDEA’s action, saying that the ban “sets a dangerous precedent for creative and artistic freedom in the country.”
READ: Shanti Dope’s camp slams PDEA’s bid to ban rap song ‘Amatz’
“The song in question, released two months ago, is open to interpretation,” the Concerned Artists of the Philippines said.
https://web.facebook.com/artistangbayan/photos/a.217690818242635/2562807827064244/?type=3&theater
“As long as the chief purveyors of illegal drugs remain, so will the culture of drug use and the social illness of addiction—and cultural expressions like music are mere reflections of this,” the artists’ group said. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)