Who is Juana Change?
The Philippines today is facing several major political challenges. On top of a global financial crisis that is now beginning to affect the lives of many Filipinos whose economic status depends almost primarily on the migrant workers monthly remittances, the present administration is saddled with a long list of corruption scandals and an ominous possibility of a repetition of the Marcos dictatorship. Many indications that compare to the previous tyrannical regime are quietly put in place. Most glaring of these is the attempt by the legislature, upon the prodding of the supporters of the President, to amend the Constitution, infamously called Charter Change, thereby allowing an extension of the Presidential term. This being the tip of the iceberg, since President has been known to have plans of shifting the current political system to a parliamentary structure that would enable her to even extend her term even further, as Prime Minister. To date, the Philippines has been ranked as the number 1 corrupt country in Asia. Hunger and poverty rates have continually increased. The current global crisis is threatening to exacerbate the conditions.
The Philippines, however is also suffering from a general apathy among sectors with regards to responding to these political and economic problems. While civil society and other key sectors have been striving to continually expose and oppose the the failings and underhanded dealings of the current administration, there is a need to inspire people to participate in the coming elections to declare their outrage against the current lineup of government leaders.
Artists in the Philippines having a long history of serving the function of inspiring and goading sectors into action are also becoming more active. One of the initiatives of a small group of artists is the Juana Change Project.
Juana Change is part of a continuing project of advocacy campaigns for freedom, justice, and good governance using the sharpest political satire hoping to evoke a social sentiment for change. The idea for Juana Change was brainstormed by a group of artists and social activists, who, because of lack of money and other resources, decided to create small video episodes and upload it to the Internet video servers for public viewing., The episodes feature Juana Change, a Filipino generic character who may at some instances represent an agent for social change or at some other instances the exact opposite. Juana is a pun that refers to two diametrically opposed political stances on change. One referring to “Wanna Change” indicating an expressed need for radical reforms in the Philippine society and politics. The other refers to Wa na Change (meaning Change is hopeless). This dichotomy that reflects the apathy and the sincere hope of a divided nation is crystallized in the different episodes that lampoons powerful politicians and corrupt officials as well as calling for a broader form of action amongst the majority.
To date, the Juana change project has released 7 episodes in the internet, primarily in Youtube.com. The following episodes are:
1. “Fixer” depicting a corrupt petty government official soliciting bribes to “expedite” a simple government procedure like procuring a license. This petty official is, ironically, a devout Christian fundamentalist thus revealing the extreme contradiction of a country that is 80% Catholic and yet recorded as the number 1 Most corrupt nation in Asia.
2. “Cha-Cha” likens the popular ballroom dance craze chacha to the scheming overtures of corrupt politicians in Congress to pursue Charter Change (nicknamed Chacha), which, purportedly extend the term of the President.
3. “Christmas Offering” utilizes the popular Christmas Carol 12 Days of Christmas to enumerate the numerous political scandals that the present administration is embroiled in.
4. “Bayani” (Hero). Depicts the funny yet disturbing travails of a typical Filipino overseas worker who despises being called the Modern Hero of her own country because it merely implies the continued dependence of the Philippine economy to the billions of dollar remittances that they send back home.
5. “Kilala mo ‘ko” (Do you know me?) takes a horrible look at this simple phrase that is used by politicians representing the arrogance they possess when they have amassed power.
6. “Sta. Nina” is a farcical take on Presidential candidates jockeying for support without genuine concern for service to people. This episode exposes and ridicules the ulterior motives of politicians and, in effect,admonishes the public to seriously search for worthy candidates in the coming elections.
7. “Face-Off” is a confrontation between the traditional politician and the lowly streetsweeper outraged by corruption and is more than willing to change the leaders of her country.
To date, Juana Change has reached more than a 100,000 viewing hits and has been gaining popularity. However the cost of continuing this project is becoming more and more difficult. Artists involved in the production of these episodes have received nominal fees and production costs have been quite daunting. Furthermore, the Juana Change project seeks not only to continue the viral campaigns on the internet but,, more importantly to set up other media forms of expression which includes: live performances, grassroots tours, and even nationwide TV broadcast. We hope that this endeavor can solicit more support from institutions, individuals and concerned citizens advocating Freedom, Justice, and Good governance.
Link: http://artistsrevolution.ph/Juana_Change_2.html written by Rody Vera
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