By Joan Honoridez

The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) recently tapped the Association of Negros Artists (ANA) to assist in their campaign to combat vandalism in Bacolod City.
According to Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) acting director, Police Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, the city looked “dirty” with vandalism everywhere, prompting him to order a system wide clean-up drive among city police stations.
Last month, after the vandalized walls of Police Stations 1, 2, and 3 were painted over, ANA came in and painted murals. Included among the images were Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, the Sta. Clara, and various pop icons and mandala designs.
However, two of the portraits were later vandalized, with speculation on the assailant(s) floating around social media.
The perpetrators happened to be students.
One of them, who went by the alias “Zerk,” met with the ANA artists.
He would go on to apologize and shook hands with Sherwynn Cadianza, one of the artists whose painting he vandalized. The other individual, Ouija, did not show up to the meeting.
“While art has no limits, the law puts a limit to what art can do especially if it involves the defacement of someone else’s property,” explained Mache Belangel-dela Torre, one of ANA’s founders.
Zerk and an artist companion were then introduced to Terence Dacles, who owns the restaurant Weego Bistro, where the meeting took place. Dacles, an avid supporter of street art, offered them a wall at Weego where they could paint a graffiti piece./WDJ