MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Children’s literature publisher Adarna House started a preorder for a discounted bundle of their #NeverAgain storybooks, which aims to revisit the Philippines’ period of Martial Law and teach children “the truth that rests with the people.”
The call for preorders was met with an incredible demand that required the publisher to open a second batch of preorders — and it also created a wave of fundraising initiatives that sought to provide these storybooks to more Filipino communities.
The preorder period began on May 11, two days after the unofficial and partial results of the 2022 Philippine Elections showed a glaring victory for presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is the son of former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
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One of the fundraising initiatives is from nonprofit organization For our Farmers PH, Inc., which aims to distribute the storybooks to scholars and students from the agri-fishery sector.
We are now raising funds to purchase #NeverAgain Book Bundle from Adarna House. The book bundles will be distributed to our scholars & students from the agri-fishery sector. Each bundle is consist of five books about Martial Law. pic.twitter.com/Oy6JvIk1pU
— For our Farmers PH, Inc. (@forourfarmers) May 13, 2022
As of May 17, they raised PHP 103,115 for the procurement of the #NeverAgain storybooks, along with “Dancing Waters: The Story of Leni Robredo.” With this, they were able to purchase 283 bundles, translating to almost 1,500 books in total. The first batch of storybooks was distributed to their scholars in Pangasinan, and they’ll be accepting donations until June 5.
First tranche of #NeverAgain Books were distributed to our scholars in Pangasinan 🤍 Sending our biggest thanks to all donors & supporters. Maraming salamat po at mabuhay kayo!
We are still accepting donations until June 5th. 🇵🇭 pic.twitter.com/7R0tapXtHA
— For our Farmers PH, Inc. (@forourfarmers) May 16, 2022
Another fundraising initiative was started by youth organization Streets to Schools, whose goal is to send copies of the storybooks to their international chapters in USA and Canada, and continue to tell the stories and narratives of Martial Law to the Filipino communities in these respective countries.
As of May 19 and three days of accepting donations, they were able to garner PHP 203,806. With this, they procured 250 sets, which equates to around 1,250 books all in all. The amount raised will also help with the logistics of transferring the books across the country and across the globe. They are still accepting donations.
The bundle contains the following stories: “EDSA,” written by Russell Molina and illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III, tells the story what happened during the EDSA Revolution. “Isang Harding Papel,” written by Augie Rivera and illustrated by Rommel Joson, is about a seven-year-old girl who brings paper flowers to visit her mother, a political prisoner during Martial Law. “Ito ang Diktadura,” written by Equipo Plantel and illustrated by Mikel Casal, offers a glimpse of life under a dictatorship. “Si Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar,” written by Augie Rivera and illustated by Brian Vallesteros, is a story about a child in the pre-Martial Law era, and how he learns about what happens in the streets. The last book “The Magic Arrow,” written by Bolet Banal and illustrated by Korinne Banal, speaks about the people’s fight against a dictator who banned all forms of expression. All individual books can also be purchased separately, at the same 20 percent discount each.
Despite the outpouring of support, some were angered
On May 12, a day after the sale was posted online, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo blasted Adarna House in a Facebook post, accusing the publishing house of “radicalizing” Filipino children against the government.
Lorraine Badoy, Communications Undersecretary and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson also weighed in on the comments section saying: “The target audience of Adarna is from toddler to elementary-level children. That early, they are planting hate and lies in the tender hearts of our children. Mga demonyo talaga.”
But many came to the publishing house’s defense.
Augie Rivera, the writer of “Isang Harding Papel” and “Si Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar,” spoke out, sharing screenshots of Monteagudo’s post with Badoy’s comments and strongly condemning and denying these accusations. He denied connection to the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, or National Democratic Front, the groups mentioned in Monteagudo’s post. He also explained that the books are part of a five-part series published by UNICEF Philippines and Adarna House.
“Bilang ‘historical fiction,’ tampok dito ang mga kuwento ng pakikipagsapalaran at pagkamulat ng mga kabataan at mahahalagang pangyayari at aral ng ating kasaysayan. (As works of historical fiction, these are stories that depict the youth’s exploration and growing awareness, as well as important lessons and events in our history.)” Rivera explained in his post.
In a statement, The Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP) also spoke out against the red-tagging of Adarna House, stating that these accusations are far from the truth, and raised a call to unite in diversity.
“We want our children to know they have the basic right to free speech and that they can take part in the national conversation in a meaningful and respectful way: to learn to argue, not by raising voices and telling lies, but to respond with logic and hard facts gleaned from the diverse books the industry has to offer.
We want our children to know the legacy of their ancestors, the richness of their heritage, the sense of well-being borne of their culture and history,” they said.
The controversy has even grabbed the attention of Neil Gaiman, the international author known for children’s books “Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book,” who summarized the issue of the accusations on Twitter succinctly:
Not good. https://t.co/1fQJhwCyMg
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) May 12, 2022
The link to the preorder form for the storybook bundle can be found here.
