Last month, tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets following a series of revelations that some of the country’s highest officials had been receiving kickbacks worth millions of dollars from government contracts.
They included a group of around a thousand protesters, reportedly consisting mostly of youth from the urban poor, who marched on the presidential palace and threw petrol bombs at heavily armored police. They refused to back off even under a hail of live ammunition, with some chanting “Revolution! Revolution! Revolution!”
Many commentators quickly dismissed this as a mindless “riot,” the work of unthinking or irrational “troublemakers” seeking to destabilize an otherwise stable government. While we still don’t have a full picture of what happened, only those who are oblivious to the real state of the country and the experience of working people could fail to understand the logic behind the call for revolution.
Over the past few decades, young people from the country’s working classes have borne the brunt of various forms of violence that the Philippine state has inflicted upon them, directly or indirectly. Teenagers and young adults who live in the country’s sprawling slums have become the favorite punching bags — or even live shooting targets — of the police.
Young people from the country’s working classes have borne the brunt of various forms of violence that the Philippine state has inflicted upon them.
Young people from affluent families live in gated neighborhoods, exclusive condominiums, or other…
Auteur: Herbert Docena
