THE WRONG SACRIFICE

By Joel E. Ferraris

THE WRONG SACRIFICE is the newest painting that I finished just last Thursday night, a day before September 21, 2007 which is 35th anniversary of martial law in the Philippines under the Marcos regime.

Painted on canvas using acrylic and mixed media, the artpiece was a result of a collaborative idea initiated by the Philippines' running priest and activist Bro. Robert Reyes and myself. I spent two weeks to complete the painting and Brother Robert painted the green cross.

This project was triggered by the recent death by hazing of Cris Mendez, a student of the University of the Philippines. There are now a total of 12 dead students who were victims of either hazing or fraternity wars in UP alone since these Greek and Roman lettered brotherhoods were first established in this university.

Although I'm no longer a Catholic but a reformed Christian, I agreed to this collaboration because of our common advocacy against the culture of violence perpetuated by fraternities not only in the University of the Philippines but also in many of our country's campuses. Brother Robert Reyes has been the parish priest of our university for several years and I was once the head of our fraternity. And and we are both witnesses to these sick culture and its trail of deaths.

It is now a common and easily available knowledge, especially through the internet, that there exists an ongoing fraternity culture of violence not only in the Philippines but also in the US.

As a fratman myself and a survivor of those bloody fraternity wars in our university campuses during our time, I understand the nature of the problem not only of the frat system but of the fratmen themselves. Therefore I started another blog, A FRATMAN'S OASIS, in the hope of giving insights derived from my experiences that could somehow help in giving solutions to a lot of our society's problems.

With this painting THE WRONG SACRIFICE it is my hope that some kind of understanding would lead to enlightenment because art is a powerful tool for education instead of becoming just a mere object of idolatry.

This painting is now with the NCPAG (National College for Public Administration and Governance) in the University of the Philipines in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.

For more images and readings about THE WRONG SACRIFICE kindly visit my new blog A FRATMAN'S OASIS.

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This painting was recently unveiled at the NCPAG in UP Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines after a mass by the running priest Bro. Robert Reyes.