(FILE) Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Sen. Risa Hontiveros in a press conference Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos should have the freedom to choose whatever they want to read, the Senate minority bloc said on Friday, criticizing a language agency’s move to purge books deemed to be subversive.
The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) has been directed to pull out and stop the publication of five books for promoting “antigovernment ideologies.”
“Ano na nangyayari sa lipunan natin?…Pagdating sa kung ano ang puedeng basahin (ng mga mag-aaral natin) ay gusto tayong i-kontrol ng ilang tao lamang? Hindi maganda yan,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III told INQUIRER.net in a text message.
(What happened to our society? When it comes to books our students want to read, a few people want to control us. That is not good.)
“Dapat ang mga Pilipino ay merong ‘access’ sa iba’t ibang klaseng ideya. Kahit mga ideya ni Karl Marx ay dapat pwede nating maaral para tayo na mismo ang makapag-desisyon sa ating sarili kung sino ang ‘tama’ at [sino] naman ang ‘mali’,” he added.
(Filipinos should have access to various ideas, even ideas of Karl Marx, so that we, ourselves, could decide who is “right” and who is “wrong.”)
Pimentel noted that the country is a free market capitalist that could sell various products regarding the economy.
He also raised that subversion is not considered a crime to date.
“Maka luma na krimen yan tapos na ang era ng subversion as a crime,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros pointed out that the KWF’s move is outside the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) scope.
Hontiveros recalled that she interpellated to clarify that possession of academic literature would not constitute a violation during the hearing of the Anti-Terror bill.
“Malinaw na hiniling at nilaban natin ang kalayaan sa pamamahayag, lalo na ang kalayaang mag-isip at lumikha ng karunungan nang walang takot at pangamba,” she said in a statement.
(It is clear that we wished and fought for our freedom of speech, especially the freedom to think and craft ideas without fear and concern.)
“Ang paglilimbag, pamamahagi at pagmamay-ari ng mga akademikong literatura ay hindi saklaw ng Anti-Terror Law. We should not tolerate any abuse of the ATL,” she continued.
(The Anti-Terror Law does not cover the printing, distribution, and ownership of academic works of literature.)
Hontiveros further decried the control of books, saying that it is “counterproductive and harmful.”
“We denounce any form of red tagging, most especially in the academe. It is counterproductive and harmful now that we should be gearing up to address the massive and complicated problems of the education crisis, including learning poverty,” she condemned.
The five books that the KWF — an attached agency to the Office of the President — tagged as subversive are:
“Teatro Politikal Dos” by Malou Jacob
”Kalatas: Mga Kuwentong Bayan at Kuwentong Buhay” by Rommel Rodriguez
“Tawid-diwa sa Pananagisag ni Bienvenido Lumbera: Ang Bayan, ang Manunulat, at ang Magasing Sagisag sa Imahinatibong Yugto ng Batas Militar 1975-1979” by Dexter Cayanes
“May Hadlang ang Umaga” by Don Pagusara
“Labas: Mga Palabas sa Labas ng Sentro” by Reuel Aguila
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