Author: Bandilang Itim

Bandilang Itim aspires to end the atomization imposed upon us by capitalist society, an alienation that separates us from each other. Bandilang Itim aims to be the banner that rallies together libertarian socialists in the archipelago known as the Philippines.

We at Bandilang Itim want social revolution—a revolution where radically new ways of doing things enters the realm of possibility. We are for forming a revolutionary organization capable of challenging capital and the state. We are for a politics that empowers everyone and endows them with the agency to govern their own lives and the things held in common. We are for the communization of the fulfillment of human needs. We are for a social ecology that recognizes our interdependence with our natural world. We are for an end to alienating forms of struggle and we are against the reproduction of hierarchies and domination in our movements. We are for the recognition of intersectionality in our struggles and the necessity of solidarity with those oppressed—as long as others are not free, we are not free. We are for liberty in all things.

Bandilang Itim aims to republish works by other anarchists and libertarians from the archipelago and its diaspora for the dissemination of libertarian ideals.

Bandilang Itim also publishes original works by members of our collective for a libertarian perspective on politics and social issues in the archipelago.

“Bandilang Itim” is Filipino for “Black Flag.”

Original Writing

A Call to Arms

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/05/03

Written by APS for his personal blog,
and republished by Bandilang Itim.

I.

We are a circle of friends who have come to a realization that the world as it is has not only failed us but is also actively antagonistic towards Art as a form of individual expression and oppressive towards the Soul as the sum total of human experiences. We have come to a consensus that this toxic state of affairs is not the product of an individual, nor even a group of individuals, but a byproduct of how our society is organized. There are three main things which we consider to be the cause:

Tags APS, English, Post-Situationist

Original Writing

A Libertarian Critique of Mao’s “Combat Liberalism”

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/05/02

Written by APS of Bandilang Itim.

One of the biggest criticisms of Anarchism, or specifically, Anarchist Communism, is how it is “ineffective,” lacks coherence and discipline, and use that to justify support for more authoritarian forms of organizing in leftist circles.

Tags APS, critique, English, Maoism

Video

May Day Solidarity Statement by Palagnanol

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/05/02

Tags Palagnanol, Tagalog

Anarchipelago Kollective Diaspora

Solidarity from the Diaspora to those in the Philippines

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/05/02

Martin Luther King Day Demonstration in Seattle, WA. Scott Lum https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottlum/32243753092/

Those of us at Anarchipelago this May Day would like to extend our heartfelt solidarity to our autonomous and anarchist comrades in the so-called Philippines organizing in their neighborhoods for mutual aid and resisting authoritarian enforcement of COVID-19 measures.

Tags Anonymous, English

Original Writing

Detainment is Death in the Pandemic!

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/30

@PNPAbraBangued. Twitter Post. 11:48 AM, April 19, 2020. https://twitter.com/PNPAbraBangued/status/1251719226022170625

Written by Simoun Magsalin.

Umaapaw na raw ang kulungan. [The jails are overflowing.] Nearly 30,000 people were reportedly arrested under the quarantine in the Philippines, with more than 4,000 of these arrested detained, based on a report dated April 18, 2020. ((Eimor Santos, “Nearly 30,000 quarantine violators arrested nationwide in a month,” (CNN Philippines., April 18, 2020). https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/18/quarantine-violators-arrested-coronavirus-lockdowns.html (Retrieved on 2020-04-29) )) Doubtless, more have since been arrested and detained since then. The police even went on record saying there will no longer be any more warnings to the alleged “quarantine violators” and will arrest people as they see fit, ((Rambo Talabong, “PNP begins to arrest lockdown violators without warning,” (Rappler, April 21, 2020). https://www.rappler.com/nation/258570-pnp-begins-arrest-coronavirus-lockdown-violators-without-warning (Retrieved on 2020-04-29) )) likely straining the capacities of the already overstretched jails and prisons.

Tags Abolition, COVID-19, English, Simoun Magsalin

Diaspora Photo Essay

What Happens To Them: Photo Essay of the Homeless Community In Long Beach

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/26

Photo essay by O’Shovah, a Filipinx comrade in Long Beach.

There is an issue that is being neglected, a homeless issue. It is an issue that has long been present before this pandemic. While the current situation is to stay at home, many of the homeless people living in the city do not have the privilege to “stay at home.” Whether it be the cold gray pavement or a metallic bus bench to sleep or rest, it cannot be denied that they are the unfortunate victims of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Tags COVID-19, English, O'Shovah

Original Writing Statement

To Pay is to Die: The Threat of Student Debt and Homelessness

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/22

A statement from the Bandilang Itim Collective.

We at Bandilang Itim stand in support with the student organizations from the De La Salle University, ((Editors of Lavoxa, Solidarity Statement of Lasallian College Student Publications on the Conduct of Online Classes. April 19, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) and the University of the Philippines. ((UP Diliman University Student Council, #EndTheSemester. April 11, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) ((League of College Councils, On the Conduct of Second Semester A.Y. 2019-2020 Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. April 12, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) In these trying times, university institutions must adapt to the so-called “new normal” in a way that accommodates their students. This means accounting for the students’ varying conditions. Some students may be under financial or emotional stress due to the Extended Community Quarantine (ECQ). Others lack access to reliable internet connectivity to continue with online classes and securing one may become yet another financial burden.

Tags Bandilang Itim, COVID-19

Pamphlets Republished

The Promise of an Anarchist Sociological Imagination

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/21

Written by Erwin F. Rafael.

This is a republished pamphlet written by anarchists in the archipelago known as the Philippines or its diaspora. We at Bandilang Itim wish to highlight and disseminate these works to better propagate the ideas of anarchism and libertarian socialism in the archipelago.

Tags anarchism, Erwin F. Rafael, sociology

Republished Statement

Statement of solidarity and condemnation of the violent dispersal of an indigenous community barricade of a suspended mine site in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/15

A statement signed by Bandilang Itim.

In solidarity with the people of Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya in asserting their right to a balanced and healthful ecology, ATM, Kalikasan PNE, LRC-KsK/FoE Philippines, and MiningWatch Canada, as well as other national and international groups, condemn the violent dispersal of members of an indigenous community lawfully barricading the large-scale mining operations of Canadian-Australian OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI), in Didipio.

Tags English

Republished

Ang COVID19

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/13

Isang pahayag mula sa Local Autonomous Network.

Introduksyon

Kasalukuyan nating nararanasan ang isa sa pinakamatinding pandemya ng ating panahon. Hindi maikakaila ang matinding epekto (at magiging epekto pa) nito sa halos lahat ng aspeto ng ating buhay; mula sa pinakabatayang pinagkukunan ng pagkain at mga hanapbuhay, hanggang sa kung paano natin isinasagawa ang ating pang araw-araw na mga gawain tulad ng pamamalengke, pag-aaral, paglilibang at maraming pang iba. Tinatantsa ng mga siyentista na hindi basta-basta matatapos ang pandemyang ito sa mga susunod na mga buwan at maari pa ngang tumagos ang epekto nito sa mga susunod na taon. Maaaring sabihing ang COVID19 ay hahati sa modernong kasaysayan sa dalawang yugto; “bago ang COVID19” at “matapos ang COVID19.”

Tags COVID-19, Local Autonomous Network, Tagalog