Categories
Original Writing Statement

Interlinking our Struggles in Gender and Queer Issues

A statement from Bandilang Itim.


Silence is not golden

Some among us in Bandilang Itim are men who are cisgender and/or heterosexual. As cis/het men in Bandilang Itim who are raised with the privilege of being men, we are not experts on gender or queer issues nor have experience as women or queer. This ought not mean we stay silent on the issues that confront our sisters and queer siblings. As Adrienne Onday declares in her important piece, “Wrath Over Pride: A call-out post to ‘radical’ cis (het) men and their inadequacy in gender struggles,” “[Y]our silence is violence to us.” Our silence is violence to those struggling against gender-based oppression. We have people we love—partners, family, comrades, and friends—who are queer or who are women, and we owe it to them to speak against cisheteronormative discrimination and patriarchal practices that persist in our milieus and in our spaces. Queer people and women are angry that they still experience discrimination, infantilization, and oppression within our spaces. They are tired that they are consistently alone when they speak out against their own oppression. Not having queer experiences is not a reason for staying silent. If we do not have these experiences or expertise, we then ought to defer to the experiences of queer people and women. The issue of silence, censorship, or ignorance of women or queer issues is also a violence itself. When we are silent we are accomplices to the violence of the patriarchal system and the intricate network of oppression. We must join women and queer people and speak out for and with them especially in situations and spaces where they may not be able to speak for themselves.

Categories
Statement

International Solidarity with the Social Revolution in Rojava

An international statement signed by Bandilang Itim.


We will defend the social revolution in Rojava with all our power. The bloodthirsty imperialist interventions can be suspended only by the coordinated internationalist actions of the oppressed classes.
Categories
Statement

The Oppressed Classes Rise Up Against Racism and Discrimination

A statement co-signed by Bandilang Itim.


The murder of George Floyd in the United States by the police has unleashed a wave of popular outrage in that country and throughout the world. Massive demonstrations, direct action against the police and in response to repression have been common these past weeks. This murder, adding to thousands of others, revives the widespread protests of 2014 in the United States, following the many murders of black people, especially youth.

Categories
Republished Southeast Asia

Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners in Tangerang and Bekasi in Indonesia

Anti Feminist Feminist Club, an anarcho-feminist collective in Indonesia, sent us this message asking for support for anarchist prisoners in Indonesia. We are reproducing this message.


The anti-anarchist repression in Indonesia is still ongoing whilst the country (and the world) is in the middle of a pandemic. Last month the anarchist milieu in the Philippines published a statement in support of imprisoned anarchist comrades in Indonesia. (See: In Solidarity With Comrades Imprisoned in Malang and Tangerang, Indonesia.)

Categories
Original Writing Statement

Crackdown at Pride! Free the Pride 20!

A statement from Bandilang Itim.


As we pass the 100th day in the longest and harshest quarantine in the world, we find ourselves in no better position to combat the COVID-19. All dissent is criminalized, ((Simoun Magsalin, “Against a Quarantine with Martial Law Characteristics,” Bandilang Itim https://libcom.org/blog/against-quarantine-martial-law-characteristics-03042020 )) and the lapsing of the Anti-Terror Bill, with its vague definition of what is considered as “terrorism” effectively legislates and normalizes the Philippines as a police state, without having to declare martial law. This is the kind of political maneuvering that would’ve made Marcos proud.

Categories
Original Writing Statement

An Anarchist Opposition to the Anti-Terror Act and the Terrorism of the State

As anarchist, autonomous, and anti-authoritarian collectives in the archipelago, we declare our opposition the Anti-Terrorism Act recently railroaded in Congress.

Categories
Original Writing Statement

To a Free Press and Free Minds: An Anarchist Position on the Nullification of the ABS-CBN Franchise

A statement from the Bandilang Itim Collective.


Two Days from World Press Freedom Day

Two days after celebrating World Press Freedom Day the Philippine government in the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered the broadcast network ABS-CBN to cease and desist their broadcasting operations. ((Neil Arwin Mercado, “BREAKING: NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop broadcast operations.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. May 05, 2020. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1270074/ntc-issues-cease-and-desist-order-vs-abs-cbn See also a timeline at Melissa Luz Lopez, “TIMELINE: ABS-CBN franchise.” CNN Philippines. February 13, 2020, (updated). https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/2/13/ABS-CBN-franchise-timeline.html )) The NTC ordered this because the legislative franchise that allows ABS-CBN to operate expired on May 4, 2020. Included in the cease-and-desist order are 42 television stations and 23 radio stations that are operated by the media conglomerate. ((ABS-CBN News, “NTC orders ABS-CBN to stop broadcasting.” ABS-CBN News. May 5, 2020. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/05/20/ntc-orders-abs-cbn-to-stop-broadcasting )) Normally congress would renew such franchises before their expiry as it had done so in the past, but President Rodrigo Duterte has had a tirade against the ABS-CBN network since becoming president, accusing the network of “swindling” and for refusing to air his political ads during the 2016 presidential election. ((Pia Ranada, “Duterte to block renewal of ABS-CBN franchise.” Rappler. April 27, 2017. https://www.rappler.com/nation/168137-duterte-block-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal )) Just days after he signed into law the franchise renewal of the GMA (the rival of ABS-CBN) Duterte had gone on record saying he would even block the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. ((Ibid.)) We do not doubt that the franchise was willfully allowed to expire without a renewal as Duterte’s allies dominate both houses of congress.

Categories
Original Writing Statement

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

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.