Thousands of Reog Ponorogo artists held a demonstration, Tuesday (10/11/2015), as a form of protest over the burning of Reog properties at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) Davao in the Philippines.
Based on information compiled by Madiunpos.com, the artist's demonstration of the reog burning incident was not only carried out by artists from Ponorogo. Also seen taking to the streets are artists from various cities or regencies in Indonesia.
The thousands of artists held demonstrations by giving speeches, unfurling banners bearing a number of demands, and also performing reog around Ponorogo Square.
After carrying out a series of activities in protest against the burning of property at the Consulate General in Davao, representatives of the demonstrators were then allowed to attend a hearing on the second floor of the Ponorogo Regency DPRD Building, Jl. East Square. Representatives of the participants in the demonstration were received by elements of the leadership of the Ponorogo DPRD along with the Acting Regent of Ponorogo Maskur.
"We do not accept the burning of reog that was carried out at the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao some time ago. Our demand is that they immediately apologize to the people of Ponorogo as the owner of this reog art," said reog artist representative of the Ponorogo Pandemen Reyog Community (Kompag), Grendo, as quoted by Madiunpos.com from the Facebook fanpage wall All About Ponorogo, Tuesday.
Reog Pemeriksaan Checkup
Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir, said that his party was conducting an internal inspection regarding the burning of reog at the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao, Philippines. "Essentially, there has been an official statement from the Consulate General in Davao regarding the reog issue and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also has an internal process to ensure that the goods are state agency assets," said Arrmanatha Nasir in Jakarta, as reported by Antara News Agency, Sunday (8/8). /11/2015).
On 20 October 2015, the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao issued an official statement that the destruction of Ponorogo reog by burning was carried out because its condition had been damaged and eaten by termites. However, the photos that have gone viral and have even been distributed by local online media, Bitung News, show that there is a certain ritual before the burning.
In Good Condition
One of the photos also shows that before being burned, the Ponorogo reog was stored in a glass cabinet and appeared to be in good condition. Apart from the reog, in another photo, it can be seen that Indonesian Consulate General Davao removed the dragon ornaments on the gamelan set and then burned it.
Related to this, Arrmanatha conveyed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would carry out inspections according to the processes in accordance with existing standards. " Periodically there are internal inspections , " he said .
Domestic reactions related to the burning of Reog Ponorogo at the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao, were conveyed by the Jabodetabek Reog Community. The community sent an official letter to the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao, Philippines, asking for clarification on information on the burning of reog art instruments by Indonesian Consulate General officials.
Secretary General of the Jabodetabek Reog Association, Agus Setiyoko, said that his party hoped that the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao would not only provide a detailed explanation of the burning of reog, but also broadcast clarifications on the burning of reog art objects in a number of national media.