Bandilang ItimOriginal writing published by Bandilang Itim
An original report by Dark Sapphire.
I have gotten back from a six-hour excursion last March 17th. I wanted to check if the reports from a Facebook post about the existence of a communal farm was true—this was in fact true. But in order to get to where we are right now and to summarize the longest road trip I had so far, we need to get back to where it all began. Let us start with the basics and work from there.
A brief note from shinta, reflecting on what society has become.
Humans have not progressed as much as they believe since the feudal ages. Even today, we worship Lords and Kings as if they were god. The titles may have changed – we call them CEOs and Presidents and Ministers now – but their offices and functions are pretty much the same. And therefore, the injustices and inequalities, the oppressions and cruelties perpetrated, are pretty much the same. Humans believe they have the right to rule over us, simply because they said so.
Written by Simoun Magsalin with input from the Bandilang Itim Collective.
In March 2020, the people of the archipelago known as the Philippines were alarmed at the rate of local transmission of the disease known as COVID-19. On March 12, police and military forces were mobilized to enforce a community quarantine for the whole of Metro Manila scheduled to start on the midnight of March 15. This quarantine was later generalized for the whole island of Luzon, a population of some 53 million souls. That the mobilization of the state’s apparatus of violence was more noticeable than the mobilization of medical and social resources is telling of the administration’s priorities.
Written by Simoun Magsalin.
There is a necessity for a liberatory politics in the Archipelago known as the Philippines and as anarchists we think Anarchism has the framework to fill this need. The dominant forms of politics we have now are insufficient for developing a liberatory politics in the archipelago. This liberatory politics becomes a necessity because politics in the Philippines is currently an alienating affair—a politics done to people rather than people doing politics. We are also dominated by domineering structures and institutions like the market, capitalism, and the state. Against these we forward the liberatory politics of anarchism for a world beyond domination.
An original article by Adobong Anarkiya, an anarchist from the Filipino diaspora in the United States.
It has been 2-3 months since the COVID-19 virus had spread across the world infecting hundreds of thousands and killing tens of thousands, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a pandemic. Within that span of time, places of work and schools here and abroad have shut down, effectively leaving people at risk of losing their jobs and becoming evicted from their homes.
Orihinal na pagsulat ni Malaginoo ng Bandilang Itim.
Una, nang lumala ang krisis, walang mass testing. Hindi raw kaya ng gobyerno. Hindi nila tuloy nalaman kung gaano kalala ang sitwasyon. Naubusan ng mga equipment ang mga ospital, kaya ang mga health worker na nag-aalaga, nagkasakit at pinauwi. Kada araw, nadadagdagan ang mga nagkakasakit, nauubusan na sila ng espasyo para sa bagong pasyente. Habang may mga politiko na kahit retirado na agad pinagpa-test, may mga namamatay nang hindi nalalaman kung COVID nga ang ikinamatay. Kapag may umaalma, may nagreklamo, pinaparatangan at inaaresto agad bilang terorista.
Original article written by sze-tao.
“This is not martial law. Our enemy is the virus.”
— some poor politician in Malacañang (living a simple life & shops at Jaeger-LeCoult ((Shoppers mob, take selfies with Duterte in upscale mall. Virgil Lopez. GMA News Online. May 7, 018. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/652465/shoppers-mob-take-selfies-with-duterte-in-upscale-mall/story/)))
Inhale slowly 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004. exhale slowly 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004.
We are in 1984. the Marcos nightmare is back.
Original article by Tadano, published by Bandilang Itim.
Egoism is named after the word “ego,” which is latin for “I.” Everyone around us has an ego for which, Max Stirner understood that we all have a drive to serve ourselves and the I, the self. This philosophical observation is also often seen in the sciences, as any serious scientist studying in the field of psychology or zoology can tell you that humans act for their own self-interest. It is then asked, is altruism a case against egoism? The answer is no, for which even Stirner argues that even altruism is a form of egoism on its own. Stirner said that altruism and cooperation—and even community—is made because it serves our ego in a way. Why do we work with other people? For our own interests. This is the meat and flesh of egoism, it’s not at all complicated.
Original Article by APS, originally published on his personal blog, and revised for Bandilang Itim.
On social media, I usually see people moan over how we’re “Destroying Nature”, and that “Mother Nature is dying.” No, my sweet summer child. Mother Nature ain’t dying. Mother Nature is just grabbing the slippers she’s gon’ use to spank our collective asses with. Natural processes that lead to life are going to remain well after we are gone. We just won’t be in it.
Original article by APS, originally published on his blog, revised for Bandilang Itim.
Attorney Oli Reyes mentioned in a viral tweet how foreign youtubers were taking advantage of the Filipino need for global validation to garner more views – and therefore, ad revenue. But what is going on here? What does that mean for us as people? Does anyone care?