Voices, Rappler’s opinion section, is not just about the written word; every published piece is complemented by an artwork by our talented Creatives team.
This tumultuous year, they had a ton of issues to interpret. We asked the team which pieces they were most proud of, and here are the top picks.
HK today, PH tomorrow: They are coming for us
Artist: Guia Abogado
Author: Leila de Lima
China was in the spotlight in 2020 for infringing on the rights of several communities, from the Muslim Uighurs, to Hong Kong’s young dissidents, to Filipinos protecting their waters. The dragon in the above illustration is not only menacing, but breathtaking in its size – a formidable opponent that will take a lot of strength and courage to defeat.
“They are coming for us. After Hong Kong. After Taiwan. Or maybe all together at the same time. They are coming after our freedom. They are coming to take away what we hold dear: our own humanity and human rights, and the life, liberty, and security of our children,” detained Senator Leila de Lima writes.
Memories of my childhood in Provident Village
Artist: Alyssa Arizabal
Author: Dinna de Guzman
To Filipinos, disasters such as floods don’t just exist in the here and now; they haunt people’s memories for the rest of their lives. A ticking clock, an old photo, a house in need of saving, all while water rages higher and higher – the above illustration captures the absurdity of remembering destructions long gone.
“As a young child, I did not understand what caused these floods. I just witnessed our household and everyone else in the neighborhood move on after every calamity. We knew the drill whenever there was a threat: move the car to higher ground outside the village, walk back and wade through flood water, pack clothes and personal effects, and move to our neighbor’s house which had a second floor. Once the flood was over, we would clean up and move on,” Dinna Dayao recalls.
The need for our schools to be homonormative
Artist: Nico Villarete
Author: Ronnel Joseph Competente
Along with the novel problems the pandemic foisted upon us, older, more ingrained issues also persisted – including the struggles of the LGBTQ+. The illustration above cleverly bares the frustrations a young student goes through when what he looks like is far from how he sees himself.
“It was always my choice to wear ‘boy’ clothes, do not get me wrong. But what strikes me is the fact that the acceptance of my gayness lies in the clothes I wear. Does it mean that if I were wearing ‘girl’ clothes, my colleagues would think less of me?” Ronnel Competente wonders.
Duterte is scared of students. He should be.
Artist: Janina Malinis
Author: Aleijn Reintegrado
With his penchant for throwing tantrums, it’s easy to see President Duterte as a wayward child – or more specifically, a schoolyard bully. But what happens when his classmates finally wise up to his antics and begin to stand up for themselves? The above illustration shows the climax of the ultimate classroom revolt.
“Of course, students alone will not stop Duterte. That fight is for the whole country to take. But there is triumph where students side. And because today’s generation of students sides with the country’s oppressed, marginalized, and excluded, Duterte and all that he symbolizes will soon no longer have a place in Malacañang. His fear – nay, his faith – in student power is warranted. The Edgar Jopsons and Lean Alejandros of our times are among us, and they are angry, many, and keen on making new history,” writes Aleijn Reintegrado.
Should Christians protest?
Artist: David Castuciano
Authors: Jayeel Cornelio and Rico Villanueva
Whether you adhere to Christianity or not, the story of Jesus Christ is rife with worthwhile lessons, the most important of which, arguably, is that we must have the courage to speak up against our oppressors, no matter how powerful and intimidating they are. The above illustration shows Jesus and the Pharisees in a scene straight out of a beautifully painted storybook, teaching young and old alike that light must always conquer dark.
“Some Christians today say that Jesus had nothing to do with politics. He criticized religious leaders but not the political ones, they reason.
“But this is a distorted reading of the Bible.
“The Pharisees were not just religious leaders. They were also a political group. The high priest was the highest officer of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court in Jesus’ time. Although he was in charge of the Temple, he was also the representative ruler of Rome.
“To go against the high priest was to go against Rome itself,” the authors write.
COVID-19 and the limits of Duterte’s populism
Artist: Raffy de Guzman
Author: Carmel Abao
A virus, a vaccine, an anxious PPE-clad worker, a pair of desperate hands, all against an acid-trip backdrop of money, money, money. If there’s one illustration that embodies the chaos and corruption behind the Duterte administration’s coronavirus response, this could well be it.
“Unlike ‘the people,’ President Duterte is not losing loved ones to COVID-19 or losing his job or income or not eating 3 meals a day. He is not stranded in congested informal settlements or the Rizal Stadium or under the flyovers – the people are! The dissonance between image versus reality is getting clearer by the day: what about the people, Mr President?” Carmel Abao asks.
The US presidential debates: Good Grandpa vs Bad Grandpa
Artist: Alejandro Edoria
Author: Jath Shao
Two old, white men shouting over an exasperated Lady Liberty – that was what November’s US presidential elections basically were. While Biden’s win is an enormous relief for people who value decency and democracy, the illustration above serves as a sign of caution: he is still an old, white man in the end, so there should be extra pressure on him to be progressive given his position of privilege.
“Whichever way this election goes, we’re getting an old white grandpa for a president. One grandpa felt like the patriarch of an empire. He makes inappropriate jokes about anything he wants. People do his will because they want to be in his will. He will never stop and ask for directions or admit he is wrong, because in his mind, he never is….
“The other grandpa cares about science, teachers, climate change, fuel economy standards, and America’s veterans. He talks about unity and being there for all Americans in a time when our tribes have never been more divided. He doesn’t pay less taxes than a schoolteacher or think that American casualties of war are suckers or losers for having given life and limb for the country,” Jath Shao writes.
The narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion and the death penalty
Artist: Nico Villarete
Author: Kevin Stephon Centeno
Jesus on the crucifix, an inmate strapped up for a lethal injection, and a victim of extrajudicial killings, splayed out on the ground in a pool of his own blood – the parallelisms in the above illustration are simple yet powerful, reminding us that true justice in the face of impunity is a cross we all have to bear.
“The crucifixion of Jesus discloses to us how the law can be wielded against the poor and dissenters. In the context of the death penalty, usually, if not most of the time, the victims are the poor. Have you witnessed a drug lord executed? The chances are very minimal. Even the ‘war on drugs’ is called by critics as a ‘war on the poor,’ which is true,” Kevin Centeno points out.
Challenging the narrative of Filipino resiliency
Artist: David Castuciano
Author: Abu Al-Rasheed Tanggol
It’s an image many of us are guilty of: lauding the triumph of the human spirit on social media, while tragedies among the less fortunate happen right outside our screens. The above illustration not only points out our ironic fetish with resilience, but shames us.
“Even when the glorification of resilience is done by members of the public, problems may still arise. There is no denying that typhoons (and disasters in general) affect people of different socio-economic status disproportionately. It is the poorer families and individuals who often find themselves in more vulnerable situations, not by choice but out of necessity. In addition, their insecurity also makes it more difficult for them to recover after disasters. Hence, while disasters cannot discriminate, our country’s socio-economic development does. Therefore, one must bear in mind that having the luxury to glorify resilience comes from a position of privilege,” Abu Al-Rasheed Tanggol stresses.
The real wall
Artist: Guia Abogado
Author: Jath Shao
It’s not Trump’s physical wall that keeps immigrants out of the US; it’s the wall of paperwork and red tape that keeps people from escaping persecution in their homeland, never mind living the “American Dream.” The above illustration is the perfect rendering of this dilemma – down to the subtle, skewed American flag hinted at by the wall itself.
“The real wall is in the mounds of paperwork that USCIS and the immigration courts send by regular mail with no tracking whatsoever. It’s in the reams of requests for evidence for anything, even trivial details that don’t apply to the cases at hand. The real wall is in the quick denials that State Department adjudicators hand down to applicants, written on brightly colored paper, with very little recourse and no refunds, of course,” Jath Shao argues.
– Rappler.com
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