A Quezon City assistant city prosecutor dismissed the environmental case filed against activist and cultural worker Maximo Santiago and three others after they burned an effigy during the State of the Nation Address last July.
“This is clearly a harassment suit because I wasn’t even present at the SONA rally. I was on a trip abroad. I was already mid-air when the rally happened.”
“Challenging this suit and condemning such action from the QCPD is necessary to keep the state’s armed forces from dictating how we practice our freedom of expression and set a precedent– especially for artworks that are anchored towards the current administration and the system.”
“It is well established that an effigy is a form of art. It is not solid waste: it is not garbage or refuse.”