Artist alarmed over State “scissors” on books may lead to cutting of music and songs

Stakeholders in the independent music industry express their concern over the State censorship of books branded as “subversives” and “Red-tagging” of their authors.

Such State repressive policies might go beyond the boundaries, censoring songs and music.

“It may start with the banning of books, but soon we might find songs at the receiving end of censorship, banned in the same way and for the same purpose,” said Karl Ramirez, singer-songwriter of Musika Publika.

“We in Musika Publiko, an organization of composers, musicians, and music producers advancing socially relevant music making, join Filipino writers and creatives in condemning the censorship of books, the “subversive” tagging, and red-tagging of the authors,” said Ramirez .

He vowed: “We stand with our fellow artists and creatives in advocating for the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed by the Constitution. Kung hindi natin pipigilan ito ngayon, the rest of the art disciplines might soon be on the receiving end of censorship.”

The Marcos Administration is perceived as launching a crackdown on books, censorship of books considered as “subversive”, if they see as not “fit in their standards”, a move that has caused ripples of protest among the intellectual community.