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A Filipino artist from Nueva Ecija named Mideo Cruz released a portrait on his own social media account a photo of President Duterte's face which immediately goes viral.
President Rodrigo Duterte is one of the most popular and controversial presidents not only in the Philippines but also from different countries all around the world due to his anti-illegal drug campaign amid Extrajudicial Killing (EJK).
According to Cruz, “LordDigs” is the latest of his neo deities series, which was triggered by a meme about 17-year-old Kian delos Santos. “People are mobilizing for his sainthood. Of course it was fake news pero siguro ito din yung nag motivate na ilabas ko na itong LordDigs,” Cruz says.
The Neo Deities series started in the '90s, and includes one on Ferdinand Marcos and another on Cory Aquino.
According to GMA, during their online communication with Cruz, “Part din ng deconstruction ko ng sacredness ng iconography, or you might call it iconoclasm, and I’m reconstructing it to put new meanings. “In this case, I used the image of Digong and his messianic attitude to save us from the ‘hell’ the country is facing today.”
Cruz continues: “Nabubuo ang mga icon ng celebrities, politicians and other popular images na nagsisislbing idolo na nag-re-relieve sa atin at nagmimistulang shield ng mga kinatatakutan nating bagay o pangyayari.
"Yung series ko ng neo deities are basically new iconographies we worship as humans. Where it might unconsciously developed trough cultural transformations kasi if you are conscious about it you might be already empowered to resist.”
His "Marcos No Hero" was sparked by the burial issue while his Cory print — "Our Lady of Mendiola 200 edition" – was "triggered by the sainthood issue naman.”
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On his Facebook page, it's not only the photo of President Rodrigo Duterte he made a neo deities series, even late President Corazon Aquino was one of them.
The Nueva Ecija-based artist says he wants for whoever seeing “LordDigs” to realize “how we are creating our gods. Or let’s say how we devote ourselves to someone to save us instead of us working for things that can concretely make transformations.
In fact, we all have different religion and beliefs so no matter what a person wants to create and established it's one's choice anyway.
"An image might be traumatic but an image or the trauma created by the image can provoke us to think. It can be a catalyst for a realization to initiate a radical transformation.”
Says Cruz, he will do Trump next “and an Imelda na matagal ko na ring gustong gawin.”
When asked if he’s been attacked by hardcore Duterte fanatics, Cruz who calls himself a “troll survivor” says “The DDS are not yet invading my wall. O baka nagustuhan din naman nila [yung ‘LordDigs’].”
After the said photo of President Duterte's face photoshopped into what Catholics recognized as a portrait of the Sacred Heart which is his left hand is a gun, instead of the earth and the Sacred Heart without the heart and the "Our Father" lettering at the bottom, Mideo Cruz explains and his artworks which is now circulating in social media is being criticized by some netizens.
Filipino people have divided opinion when it comes to the system and leadership of Mr. Duterte in the country. However, some netizen reacts on Cruz's photo showing disrespect to religious photos:
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| Photo credit to owner |
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| Photo credit to owner |
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| Photo credit to owner |
As of writing, the photo posted by Mideo Cruz in his Facebook account has earned 1K+ reactions and 300+ comments from netizens.
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Source: GMA, Facebook/Mideo M. Cruz
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