A group of Manila-based artists formed Sanggawa to produce murals and paintings satirising the dilemmas of life in the Philippines. Palo-sebo is a parody of power politics, taking its title from the festive game it depicts, where competitors race to the top of greasy poles. It features caricatures of major players from the country’s 1986 People Power Revolution, including Imelda Marcos, opposition leader Corazon Aquino, future president Fidel Ramos, head of the Catholic church Cardinal Sin and coup leader Gringo Honasan, the vast majority of whom were still active in Philippine politics when the painting was created. Also included are figures who would later emerge, including Ramos’s mistress, socialite ‘Baby’ Arenas; Aquino’s celebrity daughter, Kris; and the Marcoses’ son, former senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.

The scenario’s setting – a deserted Epifania de los Santos Avenue where the masses once marched against dictatorship – and the melancholy inclusions of a crushed student and a domestic worker executed for murder in Singapore despite limited evidence, suggest how far removed the intrigues of this dynastic elite are from the struggles of ordinary people.