Also present at the dinner reception at Alliance Française de Manille are Swiss cartoonist Philippe Baumann and ‘The Manila Times’ cartoonist Steven PabalinasAdvocacyOn May 4, AFM hosted a dinner reception for the event’s participants and stakeholders at its Makati headquarters. There, The Manila Times interviewed Plantu himself who talked about the beginnings of his organization.According to its founder, Cartooning for Peace was a by-product of a symposium called “Unlearning Intolerance” in 2006, which was held in New York. With the help of Anan, Plantu was able to gather 12 international cartoonists to discuss the onslaught of terrorism plots on newspaper Jyllands-Posten based in Copenhagen, Denmark that published cartoons on the Prophet Mohammed the previous year.“I often visited Copenhagen to see my friend [who works at the newspaper] and I understood 10 years ago that it was the beginning of threats on freedom of speech,” Plantu recalled.“Cartooning for Peace was actually the beginning of a conversation between Muslim cartoonists, Jewish cartoonists, Christians cartoonists [and even] agnostic cartoonists. Together, we imagined what the future held for freedom of speech.“[We in our organization] never mean to offend [any group] that is why our doors are open to all. We respect the beliefs of the Christians, Muslims and Jews. [Through this] we believe we can build bridges that will connect all opinions and news around the world,” he added.Today, Cartooning for Peace reaches out to younger generations around the world by presenting ideas in educational institutions. Thus, here in the Philippines, they visited students at the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, and the University of Santo Tomas for their talks.PH perspectiveAsked what he thinks of the work of Filipino cartoonists, Plantu replied, “There are a lot of young Filipino cartoonists, and it was so beautiful for me [to see that], because these young men and women cartoonists are the future. They will continue the bridges that we build.”Sharing his own journey toward editorial cartooning, Plantu told The Manila Times that he published his first piece in 1972 for French newspaper Le Monde, just a year after he failed Medicine and dropped out from university. His subject was the Vietnam War.“On my first day, I received 100 francs for my drawing. I was so surprised [because] I was drawing cartoons not to earn money,” he recalled. “My parents [eventually] became so proud of me.”Plantu further expressed his intention to know more about the current events in Philippines, especially the situation in Mindanao where conflict continues to exist.“I am here to learn a lot,” he declared. “To learn what is allowed or what is not allowed in the country. To know what is possible to draw among the Christians and the Muslims in the Philippines to begin a proposition of peace in the south.”For more information on Plantu’s advocacy, log on to www.cartooningforpeace.org.
