Lino Brocka and Freedom Of Expression Day

Lino Brocka demonstrating outside the house of then censors chief Maria Kalaw Katigbak, after she tigbak’d the film Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (circa 1985)

Lino Brocka, hounded by censorship in his lifetime but proclaimed a National Artist and hailed as a “legendary director” when he was safely dead, made a significant contribution when he moved for the inclusion of the phrase freedom of expression in the 1987 Constitution. But he did not invent the term. Indeed, even before he became a constitutional commissioner, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines of which he was founding chair had already declared in its credo, first enunciated in 1983: “We stand for freedom of expression and oppose all acts tending to abridge or suppress that freedom. We affirm that Filipino artists, in the exercise of freedom of expression, have the responsibility to do so without prejudice to truth, justice, and the interest of the Filipino people.” Continue reading Pete Lacaba\’s article on Lino Brocka

Kay S. Abaño