MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) — Filipinos reacted negatively to American musician James Taylor’s decision to cancel his concert in Manila next year to protest the government’s war on drugs, while musicians praised him for taking a stand on the crackdown’s rising death toll.
The Grammy award-winning artist apologized to fans on December 21 for scrapping his February concert, saying in a statement that he agreed with dealing with drugs offenders under the law, but was against punishing them outside it.
“I don’t think of my music as being particularly political but sometimes one is called upon to make a political stand,” said Taylor, 68, whose songs include “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Fire and Rain”.
Sales agent France Baldemor, who voted for Duterte in the May elections, said only drug addicts would protest the government’s anti-narcotics campaign.
“For me, he may be using drugs, that’s possible because why would he cancel his concert just because of the government’s campaign against drugs? We all know the Philippines has become a drug-free country. So what’s the reason behind that?” he said.
Overseas household worker Madel Baruca said Taylor has destroyed his career by going against Duterte’s policies.
“James Taylor will run out of fans for sure. Millions voted for Duterte, so for sure he will never have them as fans anymore,” she said.
Folk musician Chikoy Pura, who performs Taylor’s songs in a folk bar in Manila, said the American’s decision was noble and should serve as an example for artists to help change society.
“Other singers would choose to be apolitical and they would just say ‘I’m just a musician. I just play’ and that’s well and good, but you can also make that choice, to make a difference because you have that power. When you go up on stage and you’re in front of a group of people listening to you, that’s a very big opportunity to be able to help society,” he said.
More than 6,000 people have been killed since no-nonsense President Rodrigo Duterte took office in July and launched a fierce crackdown. Police say a third of those deaths were suspected drug dealers killed during counter-narcotics operations.
The remainder are still under police investigation and are widely attributed to vigilantes, some of which activists believe are hired assassins working for the authorities.
Taylor, who has won five Grammy awards since his self-titled debut album came out in 1968, said planned performances in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand would go ahead as scheduled.