Prometheus Bound - Francis Tanseco re-imagined a Jose Rizal sculpture.

Imagine a well loved Filipino with the highest approval rating after his term ended as President kidnapped from his home backed by a Philippine government sponsored abduction. Such is the fate that befall Former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte after he challenges the corruption, drug use, and abuse of power of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos.

The story of Prometheus Bound becomes that of Former President Duterte representing the ordinary Filipinos and the Philippine nation as a whole.

Below is a photo of my framed pastel on paper work "Prometheus Bound" re-imagined which was exhibited in London as part of my 2012 Ten (10) Art Exhibit in celebration of my tenth year creating artwork.

I also blogged about this in the link below which has details of my past exhibit and thoughts.
Jose Rizal - my kind of "Hero" 23rd January 2014

Prometheus Bound becomes Philippines Bound reflecting the current state of the nation of the Philippines under the rule of the son of the former dictator Ferdinand Edralin Marcos - a name that is so unredeemable.

You see, Marcos Jr is the self proclaimed Zeus, he acts and rule as if his power is never-ending and prostituted all the existing government institution as soon as he assumed office to kowtow to his will in order to destroy anybody and anyone who might be in the way of a perpetual Marcos rule especially in the coming 2028 Presidential Election.

Duterte is the second famous victim of Marcos Zeusism proclivities. The first victim was Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and the KOJC - Kingdom of Jesus Christ religious group.

Both Quiboloy and Duterte have supported Marcos Jr to become President in 2022. Now they are Prometheusized by the power hungry Marcos. These two are just the big names who became victims of Marcos tyranny. There are many more who were victimized, some even died mysteriously in the three years under Marcos Jr. presidency. A mirroring of what his father did to the Filipino people.

Such was Marcos jr. hubris that he backstabbed a man (Duterte) whose support was instrumental to him winning the 2022 Presidential election. An election with a lot of controversy and footprint of election fraud to say the least.

This Zeus like Marcos jr. connived to have the former President abducted and sent to the Hague as a criminal even if the Philippines have already withdrawn from the International Criminal Court hence without a jurisdiction. The case is currently active.

Prometheus Bound is a fate that awaits anyone who challenges tyranny and authoritarian inclined politicians. When Jose Rizal sculpted in a clay his own version of the Prometheus Bound, he was fighting the cause of the Filipino people for self governance against the Spanish colonial rule. Duterte's fate as the Titan who defies Zeus is a result of his fight and love of country.

Inspired by Jose Rizal's Prometheus Bound, I had my own version of it in pastel on paper as a result of my human spirit projected in my capacity to fight for justice for Filipino Overseas Workers who felt that they were being discriminated in one of central London hospitals where I used to work.

I was a Unison member and became a representative as a result of fighting for my fellow Filipino nurses. This story is long however the complexities of power dynamics in that act of defiance against a bad employer and racial discrimination is what placed me to become a Unison steward representing about 40 to 50 Filipino nurses. although less than 30 of those made a formal complaint. Still a lot to think about it.

Unison is United Kingdom's largest trade unions.

I was successful in a sense that through arbitrary avenue, each of the about 25 plus Filipino nurses who formally made a complaint where each given more or less about 2 to 3K British Pound in order to end the complaints. I was not happy about the conclusion but I have to go where the followers go and take the brunt of the circumstances which in the end became my Prometheus Bound hence I portrayed my experience in my artwork.

The nature of injustice is indeed complicated, the human's spirit capacity for defiance can sometimes be profound but the potential misuse of such help and representation can end a leader to his fall and discerning suffering. Such is the intricate context of social and political dynamics.

Most of the time, the cost for fighting for justice falls on the individual who become the face in the pursuit of freedom and justice.

Prometheus's suffering serves as a stark reminder that challenging power structures can come at a high personal cost. Such was the case of Jose Rizal, such was the case of Former President Duterte, such was the case of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino (the biggest name that fought the dictatorship of Marcos Sr.), and such is the case of what became my destiny in that London hospital.

One man who used to be in the inner circle of the former dictator Marcos Sr's regime had an epiphany which resulted to his own version of Prometheus Bound - however in this case - this Prometheus was murdered. I wrote about it. I composed a lyrics to memorialize it and here it is in this link PRIMITIVO MIJARES REQUIEM sung by Jose Paulo Dela Cruz (Francis Tanseco production) July 09, 2025

Sadly, this Prometheus is a father and son double execution style of Primitivo Mijares and his son 'Boyet'. In Philippine english, we call them "salvage" as in "na-salvage" meaning they were killed in the context of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.

As an aside, "Salvage" comes from the Spanish "salvaje" which in turn means savage. In Tagalog version it is term as "salbahe" meaning naughty hence salvage denotes that a naughty person was horizontalized "sinalbahe" in Tagalog (violated or something bad was done to). Salvage is a result of linguistic and historical evolution of word.

The world needs a Prometheus, not one but many if not all. Each of us should have a fire burning inside of us and get involve in the struggle for autonomy, freedom, and justice. As a Prometheus, we should be our brothers keepers. We should acknowledge our relationship with the divine and with nature.

The current Zeusized Marcos Jr rule highlights the need for all to become their own heroes. No one is gonna come to save us but us. We shouldn't wait for anyone to come help us, because we are all the ones we all have been waiting for to save ourselves from tyrannical ruler such as Marcos jr - the fruit is indeed does not fall far from the tree in the case of the son of the dictator.

Jose Rizal, Ninoy Aquino and now Rodrigo Duterte have the same call at play, and that is solidarity. After knowing the divine in us and the nature that is in us, we should know about our great capacity for empathy and mutual support as our tool to end a tyrannical regime of the present and the future.

Jose Rizal once said that we are our own enemy when he highlighted the "Social Cancer" in his novel "Noli Me Tangere" at the time referring to the moral decay of certain sectors in society.

In our life and times, we have our own version of social cancer and I blog about this and they are the Marcos loyalist. This morally bankrupt people will support the personality politics of the Philippines and will keep a blind eye to all the ills that became the colorful make up and hilarious decorations of the presidential circus and parade that is passing by us.

We have now the technological innovation for our social justice movement and political activism, let us use them to our advantage to better our world. This is not about politics anymore, it is about the struggle for freedom, justice and the pursuit of happiness in a better world.

The internet have given us power to discern and discern we must, we should end the personality politics of the Philippines. It is shameful to be called a loyalist when you are being a blind follower of a cult that is killing the Philippine society.

We must take out that bound in and around us physically but more so mentally by those who control us and creates a narrative of lies.

For related stories, click on this links below.

Click here for Cocoy Laurel's Mona Lisa.

Click here for the story of Cocoy Laurel's three Nora Aunor paintings.

Grief is a privilege - a song for Cocoy Laurel and Nora Aunor.

Cocoy Laurel missing 1970 portrait painting of Nora Aunor.

Laurel 1970 painting of Nora is not fake news, PEP news reported it in 2011.

Nora Aunor - our Mona Lisa.

Cocoy Laurel unrealized masterpieces.

Another Cocoy Laurel's missing Nora painting?

Another Nora Aunor painting as finalist in "Faces that Speak" 2025 art competition.

Nora Aunor inspired 2004 painting is finalist for Art Collide "Open Theme" competition.