Pinoy singer: ‘It's ironic that G20 states are afraid of songs’

Following the tradition of many other activist singers who write, sing, as well as put into practice their protest songs, Filipino folk musician and poet Jesus Manuel “Jess" Santiago defied authorities by sending a video message to anti-globalization activists gathered this week in Seoul, South Korea to challenge participants of a global summit. Santiago is one of eight Filipino activists detained and barred from entering South Korea to attend a parallel summit held by civil society and non-government organizations that will coincide with the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Seoul on Thursday. (See: 5 Pinoy activists held at Seoul airport) He was invited by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of South Korea’s largest trade unions alliances, to perform his songs at several cultural events lined up as part of the parallel summit. “It is quite ironic that the G20, a grouping of powerful and influential nations, would be afraid of songs" Santiago said. The semi-annual summit of the G20, whose members include the world’s largest economies, is expected to tackle tighter supervision of the global financial sector, a new development agenda, and other issues facing the world economy. NGOs have characteristically held parallel forums and protest actions during major global summits in order to air alternative agendas that they believe are not sufficiently tackled in the formal summits. Santiago left for Seoul on the morning of Nov. 6, and was detained for over two hours, barred from entry into South Korea, and deported on the same day, along with four other Filipinos activists: Joseph Purugganan of Focus on the Global South, Lorena Macabuag of Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Josua Mata of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and Roger Soluta of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU). Having been barred from entering South Korea, Santiago sent a video message on Monday to express his solidarity with the peoples’ campaign against the G20. “I hope that through this video, I would be able to convey my message of peace and solidarity to all of those gathered in Seoul, challenging the G20 and resisting policies that threaten the lives of ordinary peoples". Santiago explained. “One of the songs, I was hoping to perform in Seoul is Achim I’seul (Morning Dew) written by legendary South Korean songwriter Kim Minggi," he said. “This song so touched me when I first heard it not just because it’s a beautiful song but also because the song has become some sort of anthem for the struggles of ordinary people, that I was inspired to translate the song into Filipino (Hamog sa Umaga)" he added. In the video, Santiago renders both the Korean and Filipino versions of the song. Over the past 30 years, Santiago has performed his songs in many international peoples’ gatherings. He was in Hanoi in late September for the ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF), a parallel conference to the official 17th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit. In his video, Santiago also performed one of his own songs, “Halina," which he dedicated to the struggle of farmers in Pyongtaek, South Korean against the encroachment of U.S. military bases into their lands. Santiago wrote “Halina" in the late 1970s as a protest against the abuses faced by ordinary people under the Marcos dictatorship. Among Santiago’s music albums are “Halina" (1990) and “Obando" (1993), which include the songs “Huling Balita" (Last News), “Martsa ng Bayan" (March of the Nation), the lullaby “Meme Na" (Sleep Now) and “Pitong Libong Pulo" (Seven Thousand Islands). Santiago was the Institute of Philippine Languages Poet of the Year in 1978 and 1979. One of his many poems, “There is a Village in the Making," has been translated from English into French. He has also translated Lu Hsun's “Diary of a Madman", Arthur Miller's “Death of a Salesman", as well as some songs and poems of Latin American and African-Asian writers, into the Filipino language. The Polytechnic University of the Philippines awarded him the Mother Country Award because of his role as a leading musical and literary figure in the Philippine protest movement.—DM/JV, GMANews.TV