Pang-meryenda
signed and dated 2014 (lower left)
oil on canvas
24" x 24" (61 cm x 61 cm)


EXHIBITED:UP Vargas Museum, Sa Ngalan ng Batas: Reflections of Philippinelaw, culture, and society, Quezon City, October 4 - November 4, 2014

Imbued with powerful allegories, Emmanuel Garibay's art has served as explicit windows and compelling commentaries on the numerous ills of our modern society. In this piece, Garibay depicts two central figures. A politician dressed in a barong can be seen covertly handing a brown envelope to a woman, presumably a government employee. On the latter's right hand is a paper bill given by the former as bribery for a favor done for his leverage. Behind them are the ordinary people whose faces have become uncannily paralyzed, miserably waiting for their turn in likely securing state services. A somber atmosphere pervades the composition, implying the illicitness of the man's felony. Here, Garibay unequivocally touches on our dysfunctional democracy and corrupt bureaucracy, particularly on the subject of palm-greasing/bribery. The issue of red tape has been plaguing our country's civil service system for decades. In the Philippines, excessive and redundant regulations, especially on processing official documents, have hindered transparency, integrity, and efficiency in rendering government services on both national and local scales. But this overt complexity is deliberately implemented to benefit the powers that be. By exploiting legislation and manipulating regulations, they are able to secure illicit gains to advance their interests. Garibay strongly expresses that "what is legal is not necessarily moral and ethical." While the powerful revel in their wealth and privilege, the masses have long suffered from the inefficiencies of essential public services that favor only the wealthy. In a society run by the rich, laws are passed in their favor. Therefore, it is deplorable that our legal system has become an apparatus to preserve their ranks and further their gains. It has contradicted its rightful obligation to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." (A.M.)