The Inquirer must have viewed the controversies surrounding Ballet Philippines (BP) as a national cultural concern. This is based on the observation that so much space was given on the matter by your newspaper (2/16/20; 2/23/20; 3/1/20), and even deserved an editorial (2/20/20).
While culture is indeed a national issue, the BP issue is an internal organizational glitch. Perhaps it could have been settled had the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) board and managers (being above BP, one of its resident companies) stepped in to mediate among the parties involved. Instead, the CCP gave a venue grant to the BP artistic group to perform on Feb. 21, a show which the board had canceled in lieu of the COVID-19 threat.
This does not take the problem closer to a solution. Reviewing the BP mission-vision, policies, policy directions and management style, and making the necessary adjustments and rectifications, could have been a better approach.
Then hopefully, there would be more news space for community-based cultural organizations that are beset by military harassment because they present real societal problems—land, food, and justice.
JULIE L. PO,
Linangan ng Kulturang Pilipino
jlp704@yahoo.com