Year Zero

I had a puppy when I was four years old, growing up in the subdivisions of Metro Manila. The puppy grew up to be quite a mean dog that barked all day and drove us all crazy. Then one day he was gone... That's the way it was in my neighborhood. There was no middle ground when it came to dogs. You either loved 'em or you 'ated 'em (ha!).

When I used to live in LA, there was a group of Filipino artists who called themselves Grupo de Gago (Group of Fools) who were commissioned by the city to make the banner for the annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture. The banner that they came up with, which was hung in LA city hall, depicted a dog roasting on a stick with the words "This is America." The banner was removed after several days over complaints that it was racist and promoted negative stereotypes of Filipinos (uh, we don't eat dogs, do we?) After the artists complained, a "modified" banner was reinstated after a community forum to discuss the issue. During the forum, chief gago artist Manuel Ocampo was walking around in a monkey mask. Rumors say that the gagos put dogmeat in the lumpia (egg rolls) which was served at the reception. I remember it tasting a bit funny, but I just thought it was stale. I went out and put a sticker of the dog banner on my guitar the very next day.

Don't be afraid of who you are. This is year zero...

"Identity is your own worst enemy."
-Manuel Ocampo