The Reog Ponorogo Association throughout Indonesia assessed that the burning of reog carried out by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Davao City, Philippines, could not be justified. The reason is there are other ways that can be taken to deal with the obsolete reog.

"If he is old, can't he be put in a museum for learning, that should be the case," said Chairman of the Reog Ponorogo Association throughout Indonesia, Begug Purnomosidi when contacted by Republika.co.id, Monday (2/11).

The Indonesian people should respect their own arts and culture. Neighboring countries, Begug said, want to make Reog Ponorogo as an art. "We who have Reog Ponorogo are even like that, this is not right," he said. The association will immediately find out what the real reason is and what responsibility the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given regarding this incident. "We feel uncomfortable, which is clearly offended," he said. .

Tomorrow, Begug and his colleagues will meet with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to clarify the problem. In addition, the Consulate General in Davao City must apologize to the Indonesian people, especially the Reog Ponorogo lovers for their actions.

Begug himself learned of the arson incident from his friends and Youtube on Saturday (31/10). He hopes that Reog Ponorogo can be recognized internationally as Indonesia's cultural heritage so that it is not recognized by other countries. "We will fight so that Reog Ponorogo is recognized by Unesco as a nation's heritage, just like batik," he said.