“Come, take up your flag and follow me”
By Willy E. Arcilla
In answer to the clarion call of the country's Church officials for “communal action” and the public clamor for a new brand of people power amidst the unfolding ZTE bribery and corruption scandal, the social-realist painter Joey Velasco, whose famous work “Hapag ng Pag-Asa” moved millions in the country and around the world, has responded with his newest creation entitled, “Take Up Your Flag”. The oil-on-canvass painting depicts Jesus Christ, who is no longer dead on the cross nor meek as a lamb as usually projected, but grim-faced and defiant. Jesus has taken up the role as the country's paramount leader, to symbolize the need for a reunification -- not a separation -- of religious beliefs and temporal affairs. It is a message to all our leaders in government, the church and civil society to live a “unity-of-life” in communion with Jesus Christ and in consonance with his teachings -- as real-life disciples, and not merely nominal Sunday churchgoers.
Jesus Christ is boldly depicted raising a tattered Philippine flag, a poignant symbolism of the countless upheavals the country has been through – from the Cry of Pugad Lawin in 1896 to the volley of musketry in Bagumbayan in 1898; from the Fall of Bataan to the infamous Death March in 1942, from the anguish of 1983 to the euphoria of 1986, and then again in 2001. But now, after all the time consumed and the energy spent, we find ourselves once again caught in a turbulent maelstrom. Many already show signs of frustration and weariness, hopelessness and despair as a tattered nation. So Velasco has decided the only real way to move forward is if we anoint Jesus our paramount leader.
Velasco shares his thoughts and feelings, “The face of Jesus beckons; the eyes challenge us; the tough stance tells us there is no way to lose. We will definitely win this war. And the battle cry is love. He is offering his life in the frontlines of the battlefield. His Eucharistic action of life giving is extended to social action. Hence, it is a call to action”.
What makes Velasco's painting even more gripping is Jesus has not only picked up the tattered flag – which in fact resembles many flags around the country – faded and torn – but He has inverted the flag showing the red band atop the blue, declaring that the nation is in a state of war. Jesus seems to rally His people for the final conflict in the saga of the Filipino nation. Jesus is urging all Filipinos to join an uprising He will personally lead – not only against graft and corruption – but against all forms of human wrongdoing – yet not through violent means, but by pursuing the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, reinforced by the human virtues of courage and confidence, infused with the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity, powered by prayer and brought to life in action and leadership by example. Jesus issues a “call to arms” in the war of the good over the evil. Indeed, amidst all the seemingly intractable challenges and crises that continue to bedevil the country, we must all agree that our nation is not at peacetime. Our nation is at war.
We continue to fight the massive and protracted war against graft and corruption; against the vicious cycle of poverty and destitution; hunger and malnutrition; landlessness and homelessness; poor health and high mortality; the war against illiteracy and inferior education; the war against unemployment and underemployment; labor exploitation and low productivity; the war against the lack of opportunities causing the Filipino diaspora; against selfish gratification and ostentatious hedonism; the war against a widening rich-poor gap and undue concentration of wealth; the war against alcoholism and illegal gambling; drug abuse and prostitution; and all forms of crime and violence; the war against pride and hubris; greed and avarice; the war against colonial mentality and crab mentality; the war against nominal Christianity and religious intolerance vs. our Muslim brothers; the war against all physical and armed conflict – extrajudicial killings and communist insurgency, terrorist attacks and secession; abuses by the armed forces and abuses against the armed forces; the war against marital infidelity and broken families; against indecency and immorality; lust and licentiousness; the war against apathy and indifference; negativism and pessimism; the war against treachery and hypocrisy; the war against “Bahala Na” fatalism, “Pwede na” mediocrity and “Pasensiya Na” excuses; the war against excessive politics and an obsession over intrigues; the war against bureaucratic red tape in government and a culture of privilege among oligarchs, the war against a lack of competitiveness and inertia to change in the face of an increasingly competitive global market; and the war against environmental degradation and climate change – indeed, this is an all-out war we need to wage against all forms of evil in the country and across multiple fronts -- not only in government but in civil society, at work and at home, not only against the evil in others but more so, the evil within ourselves.
Velasco muses, “These were the same issues before the Shepherd was slaughtered; before He died a poor man's death. Before the cross became a religious icon, it was, in His time, a punishment for slaves and rebels. 'Take up your cross,' spoken before Jesus died on the cross and before it took on a religious meaning, in the ears of Jesus' listeners, meant 'commit yourself to those principles and actions which will bring you to the cross.' For Jesus, taking up the cross meant committing Himself to liberating His people, especially the poor over the authorities, tradition and laws, and the corrupt state of His time”.
Even after 110 years of independence, our country remains in disunity, not only from a culture of regionalism imbibed over more than 400 years of western colonization, but what is more insidious is the deep division between the forces of good against evil. Yet history also shows how Filipinos have galvanized themselves as one nation in times of adversity to put up a valiant fight against common enemies, such as the revolt of the first 8 provinces against Spain, and the whole country against the Japanese occupation; our victory against the tyranny of a despot in 1986 and the immorality of a drunkard in 2001. This must be the inspiration for Jesus Christ to call upon all Filipinos to fight the final battle against all enemies of the common good so we may enjoy true and lasting freedom.
“Thus for the followers of Jesus, 'take up your cross,' means to stretch out one's arm and to 'take up the flag,' and to commit oneself in word and deed to protest the cheating and lying, to put a stop to the extrajudicial killings of activists, journalists, and members of pro-poor movements, to bring justice to the victims and their families”, adds Velasco.
To dramatize this declaration of war and remind ourselves of the need to remain vigilant at all times, Joey Velasco seems to recapture a dramatic moment in our nation's history when Andres Bonifacio, founder of the “Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-kagalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” led the Filipino revolutionaries to tear up the Spanish cedula in the Cry of Balintawak. Our nation may not be at war in the traditional definition of armed conflict, but it can be argued that we are engaged in a war no less daunting or real because the outcome of this war will dictate whether we can win the true freedom we cherish from all human oppression on earth – material and spiritual. Velasco is hopeful his latest painting can motivate each province, city, town, municipality and barangay; each diocese and each parish; each factory and each office; each school and each family to follow Jesus Christ and invert the Philippine flag to display and keep the red band on top until such time that we achieve our common mission of defeating all forces of evil and oppression. Then and only then can we achieve real victory for prosperity and peace. Then and only then can we deserve to fly the Philippine flag with the blue atop the red.
There is no doubt in Velasco's heart this is a war we can win because it is our destiny – but only if we fight this war together as one people -- in the name of God and Country -- to transform what has been a “nation run like hell by Filipinos” to a “nation run like heaven by Filipinos”. We will win this war because we will follow our one true and only leader, Jesus Christ, so that filled by God the Holy Spirit, we may all renew the face of our nation, and ultimately fulfill our God-given mission; help renew the face of the earth.
Velasco says, “Jesus calls to each and every Filipino today, “Come, take up your flag, and follow me usque ad staturam Christi.” (until we reach the stature of Christ).”
The author is a business graduate from the UP and an industrial economist from the UA&P-CRC. He has a 25 year career in various roles in Corporate Planning, Marketing, Sales, and General Management across Asia-Pacific, and a recipient of the Agora Award for Marketing Excellence. He is now President of Business Mentors, Inc., a newly-formed management consultancy firm and Regional Director of ZMG Ward Howell, Inc.
