Tag Archives: activism

Fact or fiction: Lawbreakers, professional rallyists, blind followers and other labels about activists

By admin | July 26, 2019

Published by Bulatlat Vow of poverty. Activists are encouraged to live simply, but unlike priests, they don’t have a vow of poverty. They don’t fetishize poverty; instead, they work with the poor to fight the structures that engender oppression in society. Indeed, activists renounce material riches and the glorification of wealth but it doesn’t mean they […]

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Are you biased against activists?

By admin | June 15, 2019

Published by Bulatlat When you see a rally, you assume it is a hakot crowd. Maybe you think rallies are similar to the assemblies organized by trapos during campaign sorties. But only politicians pay people to attend events and their own self-serving rallies. Unfortunately, too, there are educated people who insist that urban poor rallyists get […]

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Solidarity as Resistance in the United States

By admin | March 28, 2019

Written for Bulatlat ‘Resistance is Our Right, Solidarity is Our Duty’ was the call to action printed on t-shirts, tote bags, and flyers distributed during our speaking tour across the United States about the human rights situation in the Philippines. It meaningfully captured the political orientation guiding Filipino activists in the US: The legitimacy of […]

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On becoming a full-time activist

By admin | February 1, 2019

Published by Bulatlat Beyond the instagrammable image of a fierce-looking activist with a clenched fist is someone rationalizing and constantly reaffirming his fidelity to radical politics. Activists are stereotyped as dogmatic simpletons who derive a perverse pleasure in organizing rallies. While it is true that public participation in a collective exercise is indeed a thrilling […]

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Under neoliberalism, the problem lies with you

By admin | October 27, 2018

Published by Bulatlat What does it mean to live in the era of neoliberalism? It is to recognize that the world is a mess and that I, as an individual, can fix it by being responsible for my life. So far, nothing perverse with this line of thought. Then we add this in the equation: […]

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The ‘Occupy’ movement in the Philippines

By admin | June 11, 2018

Published by Bulatlat The global ‘Occupy’ movement emerged in the aftermath of the financial and housing crisis that destroyed jobs and displaced millions. It denounced the inequities of the present, the irrational decision to boost neoliberal policies, and the callous attitude towards the rising but preventable poverty in the world. In support of this trend, […]

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2016: A Year of Peculiar and Dangerous Living in the Philippines

By admin | December 30, 2017

Published by Manila Today Here are the top people’s issues and people’s struggles of 2016. 1. Repudiation of Daang Matuwid The defeat of the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate reflected the seething rage of the people toward the corrupt, inept and callous regime of Daang Matuwid. President Noynoy Aquino started his term in 2010 with a […]

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Why do you insist that the Left and only the Left should rethink its politics

By admin | November 26, 2017

Published by Bulatlat It is common to hear some scholars complain about the Left’s lack of vigor and creativity. They follow this up with an unsolicited advice urging the Left to change its paradigms, replace its language, and overhaul its methods. These condescending but hopefully well-meaning suggestions have become formulaic and are often repeated by […]

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Back-to-basics grassroots organizing in the time of Duterte

By admin | July 21, 2017

*Summary of my contributed essay to the workshop organized by the Third World Studies Center of the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the Conflict Research Group of the Ghent University. The workshop’s theme is “Politics and Power in the Philippines: Towards a Contemporary Research Agenda”. Published by Bulatlat Political forces vie for national dominance but […]

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The problem is not excess but lack of activism

By admin | May 12, 2017

Published by Bulatlat A week before the global celebration of Human Rights Day in 2016, various people’s organizations in the Philippines conducted a solidarity fasting campaign to press for the release of 400 political prisoners. In response, a government peace negotiator described the action as counterproductive and that it is putting undue pressure to President […]

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