Controversial assumed NCCA position on Josie Rizal

On late March 2015, a controversy was started on the assumption that the Philippines' National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), a government agency, had taken a negative stance against the newly-announced Tekken 7 character Josie Rizal. The public assumed that the NCCA was willing to use its government powers to impact the development and release of the character. The controversy led to the harassment of the agency by Filipino fans, even though in reality, it never had an opinion on Josie Rizal.

The controversy started when the Philippine news website GMA News interviewed what it initially misreported as an NCCA official. The said interviewee disapproved of the character and stated that he was looking for ways to "correct" the problem. The interviewee was later revealed to only be a partner coordinator for the NCCA and not an official. The issue escalated when the Philippine blog "Definitely Filipino" posted a satirical April Fools' article that went viral. The article claimed that the NCCA had issued a temporary restraining order on Tekken 7 in the Philippines.

Background

On March 29, 2015, Bandai Namco Games officially revealed the playable Filipino character Josie Rizal for the fighting game Tekken 7. She is the first playable Filipino in the Tekken series. The character was met with somewhat mixed reception about her name and its play on the name of the Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal.

About

Viral GMA News report

On March 31, 2015, GMA News published a story, initially reported by GMA Cebu, stating that Dr. Leodenito Cañete, an NCCA official, is unhappy with the reveal of Josie Rizal. In the same report, it stated that he was planning to take steps to "correct" any wrong impression the character may have given about Dr. Rizal and the Philippines.[1] In reality, Cañete is not an NCCA official and the agency had not taken any stances on the subject.

The story was posted in the popular gaming forum NeoGAF where gaming journalists and enthusiasts visit to pick up stories to report on. It was later picked up by larger gaming sites like Kotaku[2] and fighting game community websites. The public assumed that Cañete's opinion reflected NCCA's position on the subject. This made the story viral and made it gain international notoriety.

The "Definitely Filipino" April Fools' article

The issue was further complicated when the Philippine blog "Definitely Filipino" posted an April Fools' article stating that the NCCA had issued a temporary restraining order on Tekken 7 in the Philippines. The article, which had a date of March 31 instead of April 1, was shared nearly 10,000 times.[3]

Katsuhiro Harada threatening to delete the character

On April 2, the creative director of Tekken 7, Katsuhiro Harada, stated on Twitter that if Josie Rizal does not get support in the Philippines, he will give up the character. When asked about the possibility of a name change to appease the NCCA, he replied "if it happens, I’ll delete her."[4]

Resolution

On April 1, the original GMA News article was updated more than 30 hours after it was posted. It was updated to point out that Dr. Leodenito Cañete is not an NCCA official, but merely a "cultural educator".[1]

On April 3, NCCA Chairman Felipe de Leon Jr. issued a Facebook post clarifying that Cañete is not an NCCA official and that he is only a partner in the Bayaning Bayan project, a painting competition under the Philippine Cultural Education Program of the NCCA. He also stated that the NCCA will be working with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to study the legal aspect of Josie Rizal.[5] The statement was met with negativity by some fans, stating that issuing an official statement on a trivial matter is unnecessary.[6] The post has since been deleted.

Trixie Cruz-Angeles, the legal counsel of the NCCA, stated on Facebook that the NCCA had not taken cognizance of Josie Rizal nor issued an opinion, and clarified that matters about national heroes are within the jurisdiction of the NHCP.[7]

During the debacle, the official NCCA social media accounts published posts reminding the public that the "Definitely Filipino" article is a satirical article and reaffirmed that Cañete's opinions do not represent the commission's stance on the issue.[8] It also forwarded Cruz-Angeles' post to Katsuhiro Harada's Twitter account.[7] Harada retweeted NCAA's response to help clarify the situation and attempted to calm the Filipino fans.[9]

References

  1. Cultural educator unhappy with Tekken character 'Josie Rizal' (updated). March 31, 2015 at 1:54 PM. Joel Locsin/JST/TJD, GMA News. GMA News under SciTech. Retrieved on 2024-01-14.
  2. Why a Tekken 7 Character Is Being Called a Phoney. March 31, 2015. Brian Ashcraft. Kotaku. Retrieved on 2024-01-14.
  3. NCCA Issues TRO Against Tekken 7 from PH stores because of the first Filipino fighter’s portrayal. March 31, 2015 at 2:00 PM (UTC+0). Kisap Mata. Definitely Filipino. Retrieved on 2024-01-14.
  4. Tekken creator to ‘delete’ Josie Rizal if NCCA pushes for name change. April 02, 2015 at 8:26 PM. Aries Joseph Hegina. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved on 2024-01-15.
  5. NCCA to study ‘Josie Rizal’ Tekken character issue, look at legal aspect. April 3, 2015 at 3:15 AM. ELR, GMA News. GMA News under Lifestyle. Retrieved on 2024-01-15.
  6. NCCA still mum on Tekken 7’s ‘Josie Rizal’. April 03, 2015 at 6:17 AM. Aries Joseph Hegina. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved on 2024-01-15.
  7. Twitter interaction between @Harada_TEKKEN and @NCCAOfficial. Last reply on April 3, 2015 at 4:00 PM. @Harada_TEKKEN and @NCCAOfficial. X (Twitter). Retrieved on 2024-01-15.
  8. nccaofficial Instagram post. April 3, 2015. nccaofficial. Instagram. Retrieved on 2024-01-15.
  9. Tekken 7: Harada Asks Fans To Calm Down, No TRO On Josie Rizal. April 3, 2015. Ryan Parreno. Gameranx. Retrieved on 2024-01-15.