Today's Topi
1. [France] Anarcho-syndicalist initiative in Pakistan By AN
(pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
2. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #307 - Unionism
Maël Le Goff (CGT-Renault): "Relocating is to make
double-digi
margins" (de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
3. UK, London Anarchist Communists: New Rebel City is out!!
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
4. ait russia: 99th "act of protest" of the "yellow vests
movement [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
5. Greece, APO, Anarchist Collectivity "Cycle of Fire": N
submission to the ideological & repressive campaign
of the stat
Freedom to P. Georgiadis [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
6. Czech, AFED: AF working meeting - Report on the autum
gathering of members of the Anarchist Federation [machin
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
7. Bandilang Itim: Banner Drop Action by Malaysian Comrade
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
8. Manchster SolFed at demo called in support of migrant
4-10-20 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
9. Bandilang Itim: The Libertarian Elements in the Philippin
Archipelago by Simoun Magsalin (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
10. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #307
- Unionism
RATP: strike funds, do not repeat the boondoggles (de, it, fr
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
11. Bringing the Black Flag to the Philippines - An Interview
with Bandilang Itim (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The Workers Solidarity Initiative (WSI) is a young group from Pakistan, which seeks to raise awareness of the principles, tactics and
objectives of anarcho-syndicalism among workers in this country. ---- Its activity takes place under difficult conditions, political
violence in Pakistan, whether ethno-nationalist (especially against the Baluch, Pashto and other minorities) or Islamist, being daily, not
to mention the omnipresence of the army and the endemic corruption that plagues the country. Apostles and other "blasphemers" (real or
alleged) are generally sentenced to death by the official justice system, when it is not Islamists who are responsible for carrying out the
sentence ... ---- The comrades translated Rudolf Rocker's reference book "Theory and practice of anarcho-syndicalism" into Urdu, the
official language of Pakistan.
The electronic version of this booklet can be downloaded online at:
http://cnt-ait.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Rudolf-Rocker-URDU.pdf
Now they want to be able to edit it on paper to distribute it as much as possible in their country, but their resources are limited.
We launched a subscription to help our Pakistani colleagues. You can contribute through the online collection platform:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/workers-solidarity-initiative-pakistan
Solidarity is our strength!
Against injustice and oppression,
For freedom and equality
Join the revolution!
CNT-AIT comrades in France
Translation> Liberto
anarchist news agency-ana
------------------------------
Message: 2
In Caudan, 385 jobs are threatened, but contradictory signals are mounting. Closure or not ? Maël Le Goff, CGT delegate, answered our
questions. ---- Alternative Libertaire spoke a lot ten years ago, about this site installed in Caudan, in Morbihan. In 2009, by dint of
struggles, the workers of the Breton Mechanical Foundry Company (SBFM), a Renault subcontractor, had obtained their reinstatement within the
group, under the name Fonderie de Bretagne (FDB)[1]. In May 2019, the site suffered a fire. Ten months of slow-moving activity followed, and
the new production tool was reinstalled. Then, on May 15, amazement. Even before the post-Covid restart, Renault announces a restructuring:
15,000 layoffs in sight, including 4,600 in France. In Caudan, 385 jobs are threatened, but contradictory signals are mounting. Closed or
not? Maël Le Goff, CGT delegate, answered our questions.
Libertarian alternative : You went on strike at the end of May on the site. Where are you at ?
Maël Le Goff: When we learned in Challenge, on Friday May 15, that several sites were going to close, including ours, we tried to obtain a
denial from the foundry management, which never came. The following Monday, during a general meeting in the foundry parking lot, we decide
to stop the work until we have an answer. But it was a bit of a "block without blocking", as activity was restarting, and there was already
no more direction. They had taken advantage of the ascension bridge to pack their boxes !
From there, we publicized the movement and called on local elected officials. Indeed, to help Renault, local authorities had put their
hands in their pockets to the tune of 8 million euros !
We then held a CSE on Wednesday at the sub-prefecture, which revealed absolutely nothing more to us. Discussing the reject rates when you
are told that you are going to pack your bag, that was not possible !
The Thursday morning meeting with local elected officials changed everything. We had worked all night to show that the project was viable,
that the factory was new. We even brought elected officials to the site. I told them, "Come and see where you put our money.This is what
convinced them, and this is what went back to the ears of Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who intervened. Result, on
Friday May 22 in the morning, in the middle of an extraordinary CSE at the sub-prefecture, the site manager, Galmard, announced: "No
closure, no buyer."
On the Caudan site, threatened with closure, all the equipment was renovated last year !
It looks a lot like a directive fallen from the government under pressure from Le Drian, who is a local baron. And since ?
Maël Le Goff: Well, it's a political decision that comes over an industrial decision, so it's still a mess. When the local elected officials
talk, the CEO of Renault, Sénard answers "yes ... but no". For employees it is total uncertainty. On the one hand, we assure you that the
factory is not going to be closed or sold, and on the other hand you have Sénard who puts 10 balls back into the jukebox !
What is the situation on the other threatened Renault sites ?
Maël Le Goff:Apart from Caudan, there are Flins, Choisy and Dieppe, but also Maubeuge. The five don't make the same thing, but are all
related. There is like a domino effect. The final question is: does Renault want to withdraw from France or not. We are no longer making
cars for individuals. There was the Clio, but it went to Turkey. The top of the range, which was made in Douai, they are going to stop. They
are talking about making electric vehicles in Douai: a model for 40,000 euros and one for 60,000. We are far from what Renault offered in
the 1960s, that is to say, a cheap car for the working class. Offshoring is to make two-digit margins instead of single-digit margins. It
has always been Carlos Ghosn's policy to get as much cash as possible for shareholders. The 5 billion loan,!
You mentioned a domino effect. So will there be a coordinated response between the sites ?
Maël Le Goff: You have to see. Already, the CGT is not the first union everywhere. It is only in Caudan and Cléon that we are. So there will
be different answers. At the level of the CGT, we try to coordinate each time. When there were the announcements of closure, we proposed a
rapid response. But on the other sites, the majority unions wanted to wait for the official response. We here, if we had waited, we would
have already died.
How are you organized within the Federation of Metallurgy ?
Maël Le Goff:There is a CGT Renault coordination which is led by Fabien Gâche, the central delegate. Except that it is difficult because
there are political currents which, instead of taking their instructions from the union, take them from their parties. There are those who
always say that we must requisition the company and give it to the workers. I want to hear it, but I find it hard to believe it. And there
are those who have other ways of doing things, who want to listen to the employees, that's what I try to do. In addition, we must of course
denounce the logic of the employer which leads us straight into the wall. But once you've said that, you have to come up with an
alternative. You are stronger when you show that there are other solutions. It was also that, for us, the week of strike: to demonstrate the
viability of the site. We had everything for that. The plant is new, the surrounding speech during the confinement was about relocation and
environmental issues. We were in the heart of the matter and we demonstrated that the plant should not close. So the struggle continues.
Interview by Robin (UCL Lorient)
Validate
[1] "Pierre Le Ménahès (CGT-SBFM):" We will return all the blows we take "" , Alternative libertaire, February 2009 ; "SBFM Caudan: the
lessons of a workers' victory " , September 2009 ; "FDB: Victory for cross-country skiers" , October 2011.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Mael-Le-Goff-CGT-Renault-Delocaliser-c-est-pour-faire-des-marges-a-deux
------------------------------
Message: 3
Issue No 13 of London's anarchist paper is just out. London Anarchist Group members help edit, write articles for and distribute this great
paper. Online and hard copy available (from Housmans and Freedom). Latest issue has articles on Make the Rich Pay, No More Covid Blame
Games, Independent Unions Continue Struggle During Pandemic, Tories Bring In Austerity on Public Transport, Battles are Coming on London
Underground, Health Workers Demonstrate in London, Mutual Aid: A Personal Account, Food for Thought, London: A Sustainable Food Network, Not
Charity, Eviction Ban Extended...But Keep Fighting, Save Queen's Market, 'Regeneration'- The Only Way Is Up, Do Black Lives Matter in
Haringey?Sixteen pages of resistance, revolt, mutual aid, and fun!!!
rebelcitylondon.wordpress.com/2020/10/06/rebel-city-no-13/
https://londonacg.blogspot.com/2020/10/new-rebel-city-is-out.html
------------------------------
Message: 4
October 3 became the day of the 99th weekly "protest" for the French movement of "yellow vests". Small actions and demonstrations took place
all over the country. ---- In Paris, the main topic was outrage against propaganda from the media, which support the anti-social and
despotic policies of those in power, the suppression of social protest, freedom of speech and demonstrations. The protesters gathered in
front of the French Radio building and moved through the city at 2 p.m., ending the procession at 6 p.m. at French TV
(https://blogs.mediapart.fr/ceinna-coll/blog/041020/gj-acte-85-sem9903102020-figurants-l-information-marionnette-devant-les-medias)
In Toulouse, the "yellow vests" gathered in Place Jean Jaurès, and then symbolically occupied the roundabout in Place Wilson. Their themes
remain the same: wages, pensions, fighting unemployment, "direct democracy" versus "democracy" of the regime
(https://actu.fr/occitanie/toulouse_31555/toulouse-retour-aux-sources-pour-les-gilets-jaunes-qui-reprennent-les-ronds-points-mais-en-ville_36544213.html)
Together with various environmental groups, organizations and initiatives, the "yellow vests" took part on October 3 in the "marches to the
airports" in Paris, Toulouse, Montpellier, Merignac, Chambery, Dole-Tavo, etc. Protesters demanded a reduction in air transport and the
development of more environmentally friendly means of communication
(https://www.evous.fr/Blocages-routes-France-https://www.revolutionpermanente.fr/Le-3-octobre-marchons-sur-les-aeroports-%E2%80%AC-pour-l-ecologie-mais-contre-le-greenwashing-et-les;carte-des-rassemblements-hausse-prix-carburant-1192858.html;
https://actu.fr/occitanie/blagnac_31069/pres-de-toulouse-ils-manifestent-contre-le-trafic-aerien-a-l-aeroport-de-blagnac_36545083.html;
http://factuel.info/article/lactualite-28-septembre-5-octobre-franche-comte-006912).
In various parts of France, the "yellow vests", as usual, went out to pickets and blockade actions at road roundabouts.
It is reported that on the night of October 3, gendarmes attacked a party organized in Lodeve in the South of France, which was also
attended by "yellow vests" and other social activists
(https://www.midilibre.fr/2020/10/03/lodeve-la-manifestation-festive-mais-illicite-tourne-court-9115137.php)
https://aitrus.info/node/5563
------------------------------
Message: 5
HANDS DOWN WITH THE FIGHTERS AND SOCIAL-CLASS RESISTANCE ---- On Wednesday, September 23, after an operation by the "anti" -terrorism
service, comrades P. Georgiadis and MT were arrested. In the early hours of the next day, men of the "anti" terrorist invade the house of
M.T. in Petralona where they arrest his companion and roommate, E.M. From the first moment, the parrots of the media present the arrests as
a dismemberment of the revolutionary organization O.L.A. giving praise to the Ministry of Pro.Po. and celebrating "the successful strike
against terrorism." The media, creating a climate of terror, continue to leak false and non-existent information, targeting even more the
comrades and constantly inflating the case in order to create a climate for their pre-trial detention.
The "anti" terrorist is trying to connect - without any success - the findings (according to the police, explosives and bullets were found)
of the warehouse rented by comrade P.G. as well as the weapons found in the homes of the other 2 arrested with the action of OLA. On Friday,
September 25, M.T. and E.M. who were charged with misdemeanors, are released (MT with restrictive conditions, while his companion EM without
any restrictive conditions). Comrade P.G. accused of possession of a firearm, passes on Monday 28 September by an investigator and
prosecutor, who decide to remand him in custody, while in the following days the anti-terrorist in its attempt to once again link PG with
the action of O.L. A presents a file downloaded from the internet, which was found on a companion hard drive, as the organization's original
proclamation of the BSE bombing. In this climate, cops and the media are trying to go one step further by targeting as a "tank of
terrorists" the political collective of anarchists and communists "Class Counterattack" in an attempt to criminalize the actions of
comrades, as well as the anarchist and anti-authoritarian and continue the terror operations by bringing another comrade out of her job and
searching her home on 9/29.
These are operations that are an integral part of the wider repressive campaign of the state that is in progress and aims at every
expression of social and class resistance from below, from the dozens of invasions and evacuations of occupations throughout Greece, the
police occupation of Exarcheia, the abolition of university asylum and the attack on its social character, until the strike of a number of
mobilizations that were institutionally legitimized with the passage of the bill for the reduction of demonstrations. All methods and
attacks against the militants, the anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement and the wider social and class resistance have one thing in
common: the fear of power over the dangerous classes,
Today we are at the point where the authorities are trying to erase the imprints of decades of hard social and class struggle. They want to
erase the traces of the Polytechnic uprising, the student squatters of 1991, the great anti-war demonstrations of 2002-03, the student
mobilizations of 2006-07, the social and class uprising of December '08, because they function as examples of resistance, because show
struggle paths to the oppressed today. After the elections of July '19 and the renewal of the bourgeois political system, which is moving
towards the imposition of modern totalitarianism, the current political management, which is its extreme right-wing version, proceeds with
even greater aggression to the declared goals of the world of power. From privatizations,
The doctrine of "zero tolerance" is being upgraded to a single Preventive Counter-insurgency strategy, at the same time as the covid-19
pandemic acts as a turning point in history and as an accelerator of the overall systemic crisis. The looting of the working majority is
unprecedented even in the context of the crisis that broke out in 2010. Their experience from the previous phase of the popular uprising,
but also their terror for an even fiercer clash of a disorganized, revolutionary and better organized social and class movement with their
power, puts at the center of their priorities the prevention of violent repression.
The ruling class knows that the depth of the crisis of the state-capitalist system has reached unimaginable heights due to the pandemic,
which has a global character. He knows very well that the millions of the poor will not be able to get enough of the bosses 'propaganda; the
praetors' rods will have to take over. It is our duty to patiently and dynamically prepare the social base for a generalized conflict with
its tyrants, to upgrade the revolutionary organization at the expense of the reformist formations that are degrading and selling out the
popular struggles. To convince the social body with the example of a relentless struggle, re-entering the front line, in the natural
position of every Anarchist proposal, setting up embankments, setting up fortifications, turning social peaks into revolutionary material.
SOLIDARITY TO THE PERSECUTED PARTNERS.
FREEDOM TO P. GEORGIADIS
AGAINST THE STATE REPRESENTATION, THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIAL REVOLUTION CONTINUES AND WILL WIN!
Anarchist Collectivity "Cycle of Fire" APO-OS member
https://ipposd.wordpress.com/
------------------------------
Message: 6
The first weekend of October was to be the regular congress of the Anarchist Federation. However, given the situation regarding the covid-19
epidemic and the late organization, it was clear in advance that such a convention would not be fully representative and quorum.
Nevertheless, we decided to meet, in a narrower circle of those who are allowed to do so. Instead of a regular congress, a kind of working
meeting took place. ---- Its content was not so formal and, unlike a regular congress, only some things were addressed. For example, the
confirmation and election of delegates to individual working groups of the federation was eliminated. In this direction, everything remains
the same until the next regular descent.
As always, those present reported on the activities of their groups. But only some were represented. And so, for example, members of
AF-Prague could introduce to others the space in which we met and which should in a way fill the hole that arose in Prague's Žižkov after
the end of the Salé info shop.
Inevitably, we had to reflect on the situation associated with measures to prevent the spread of the disease. It affects us regarding the
organization of public political and cultural events. Among other things, they are associated with the distribution of our publications,
which are now much harder to get among people, and the question is when this situation will change. We regret to receive the information
that the Brno bookfair was canceled. So far, it is postponed indefinitely for next year. Although it is clear that publishing anarchist
publications at this time is very financially demanding for us, we have decided not to deprive at least those who are about to arrive at the
Prague anarchist book market. Even though it is just around the corner, we hope to be able to publish Anarchism for Beginners by then.and a
brochure on the current situation in Belarus. We are also working to publish a diary for 2021 dedicated to the Spanish Social Revolution.
And last but not least, we hope that there will be a new issue of the anarchist magazine Existence . It will focus on the topic of the
climate movement. Therefore, the last work on this issue and the related division of tasks was the topic of a working meeting. We also got
on the publishing plans for next year, when we would like to emphasize the centenary of the death of the important anarchist thinker Petr
Kropotkin.
In the general debate, it was stated that although the organized anarchist movement in the twenty-five years of existence of the Anarchist
Federation has shown no mass increase, it does not mean for any of us that we should perhaps discount our demands, dreams and visions, as
well as activities that they make sense to us not only as the promotion of the ideas of freedom, equality and self-government, but also the
creation of a collective space that is fulfilled by these ideals.
As the working session took place on the day of the elections to the Senate and regional councils, we were pleased to say that they were
again won by anarchists who were absent from the election, with the idea that participation in elections legitimizes the current capitalist
system.
https://www.afed.cz/text/7231/pracovni-setkani-af
------------------------------
Message: 7
We were told by friends in Malaysia that the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually subsided since the pandemic struck earlier
this year. ---- Until the Sabah state election was held on September 26 . Power-mad politicians have campaigned in Sabah which at that time
was spreading brutally this pandemic. ---- Politicians from Peninsular Malaysia, who originally came from controlled areas, entered Sabah
which at the time was experiencing a contagious outbreak had campaigned to ensure their party won. And then brought the epidemic of the
disease back to the Peninsular thus triggering new infections and clusters when the virus spreads again.
As a result of politicians not taking care of these SOPs and quarantine, the situation in Malaysia today is getting worse where the people
are restless with the new wave that is hitting soon. Politicians are blaming the people again for the new wave as if the people are not
following the SOP and social distancing.
Malaysians to some extent began to reject these irresponsible politicians because they did not take seriously the issue of involving the
health of the people.
The people are fed up with dirty politics and political coups that are more important than the health of the people. Because of that, the
people began to show their dissatisfaction through various mediums, to make politicians aware of the courage to take responsibility for the
no and the mistakes they have made.
Friends there demanded that these politicians step down from their respective seats because they had failed in managing the well-being of
the people.
Salute Malaysian friends!
https://bandilangitim.noblogs.org/2020/10/08/banner-drop-action-by-malaysian-comrades/#more-832
------------------------------
Message: 8
Manchester Solfed supporting the demo against the hostile environment and detention of migrants, organised by Queer Support for Migrants,
outside the detention centre at Manchester Airport Yesterday. The action was part of a series of decentralised, local actions taking place
last weekend around the country, coordinated around the slogan ‘Solidarity Knows No Borders'
http://www.solfed.org.uk/manchester/manchster-solfed-at-demo-called-in-support-of-migrants-yesterday
------------------------------
Message: 9
Part of a series of articles drawn from the 6th International Anarchist Studies Network Conference, September 2020. Edited excerpt from a
longer piece entitled ‘Towards an Anarchism in the Philippine Archipelago'. ---- On Contextualizing Anarchism ---- Anarchists in a
particular area cannot simply import anarchism wholesale. Anarchism must contextualize itself in the specific contexts of where it exists.
---- When anarchism came to China, Korea and Japan, anarchists in these countries contextualized anarchist ideas for their own contexts. In
China, anarchists linked anti-authoritarian and anti-statist ideals in Taoism like wu-wei and wu-jin to anarchism. In Japan, anarchists
experimented with Buddhist anarchism, wedding the already liberatory aspects in Zen Buddism to anarchist politics. In Korea, anarchists
contextualized their anarchism in the particular colonized conditions under Japanese imperialism and even set up the revolutionary Shinmin
Commune as a base for anti-imperialism.
Anarchists in the Philippines then are then posed the same question: How do we situate anarchism in the liberatory politics in the
Philippine archipelago? What aspects in the archipelago are already liberatory?
A History of Non-State Societies and Resistance to Authority
Historically, it is plausible that there existed indigenous groups in the archipelago that organized non-hierarchically and therefore
anarchically. After all, the Ifugao people carved the very mountains into the Ifugao Rice Terraces in a monumental effort. They did this all
without use of governments or states. The Ifugao and other tribes that organize in an egalitarian manner still live today, despite the
legacy of colonization and the continuation of settlements in their homelands.
It would be mistaken to proclaim that anarchy was the mode of governance before colonization as this falls into a romantic notion of a
‘noble savage' or a ‘pure' indigeneity unsullied by the state. In reality, indigenous peoples - indeed all peoples - have widely diverse
ways of organizing themselves. There have been hunter-gatherers that organize hierarchically and urban people that organize in an
egalitarian manner.1 This is no different in the Archipelago: there are indigenous groups like the Ifugao who organize themselves in an
egalitarian manner and there are indigenous groups like the Maranao who maintain nobility and royal houses.
Where anarchism can situate itself in the archipelago is in the history of struggle against authority. Anarchism in the archipelago is but a
young member in the long line of indigenous opposition to colonial authority and domination. Roger White says it best that anarchism finds
itself as part of a family of other anti-authoritarian struggles throughout history:
A different way of understanding anarchism in relation to the centuries-old struggle against arbitrary power is to view it as the newest
member of a global family that includes numerous historical and present day communal societies and struggles against authority. The village
communalism of the Ibo, and First Nations like the Zuni and the Hopi are a part of the family. The indigenous autonomist movements for self
determination going on today in West Papua and Chiapas, Mexico with the EZLN are a part of the family. The international prison abolitionist
movement, perhaps the most coordinated attack on the state's monopoly of the administration of justice, has deep anti-authoritarian
currents, just as the numerous stateless hunter and gatherer bands, clans, and nomadic tribes that have managed to survive centuries without
armies, flags, or money systems do.2
Thus working within this post-colonial framework we find that the Indokumentado (the undocumented natives) and the rebels of the Dagohoy
Rebellion who resisted the efforts of the Spanish colonial authority to constrain them to labor camps to be the natural forebears to an
anarchism in the archipelago. Anarchism in the archipelago situates itself in the innumerable acts of resistance against the colonizers and
their institutional descendant in the state. While anarchism is a relatively recent phenomenon, libertarian elements have very much already
existed in the archipelago for as long as there has been resistance to tyranny and greed.
Episodes of Anarchy and the Commune
From indigenous statelessness, an episode of anarchism can be found in the first decade of the 20th century in Isabelo de los Reyes.
Tutored by anarchists and revolutionary socialists while exiled in Catalonia, Isabelo de los Reyes brought Marxist and Anarchist theories to
the Philippines in 1901 during the American colonial period. He used the principles of Marx and Malatesta to set up the Union Obrera
Democratica (UOD), the first labor union federation in the Philippines. While not specifically anarchist, the UOD did incorporate mutual aid
and direct action into their praxis and was a thorn in the side of the American colonial administration.3
A later example of libertarian elements in Philippine history is the Diliman Commune which was a student uprising against the Marcos
administration in 1971. While the uprising was ideologically influenced by National Democracy (a Philippine variant of
Marxist-Leninist-Maoism), it contained several libertarian elements. Being a spontaneous uprising, it was not dominated and directed by a
vanguard party. Revolutionary students and faculty used direct action in defense of their commune instead of relying on representatives and
mediators. Power was not monopolized by a few select leaders and decisions were made in an egalitarian manner in councils and assemblies
using consensus.4
Bayanihan as Mutual Aid
Just as Peter Kropotkin in his book Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution finds and situates mutual aid in nature and various human societies,5
so can we also situate mutual aid in the archipelago. Filipinos already know mutual aid as bayanihan. Mutual aid or bayanihan is a mode of
cooperation based on solidarity. It is us helping each other because it benefits all. The image of bayanihan is often a village (or a bayan)
working together to carry a house. By themselves the villagers could not lift the house, but all together they can - their toil is minimized
with collective action. What is more is that by participating, they know the other villagers will similarly assist them when they need it.
Thus mutual aid or bayanihan becomes a system of support and collective action that improves the quality of life for everyone involved. It
is then a safety net that everyone can participate in.
Episodes of Direct Action
Libertarian elements can also be seen in contemporary times. Land and housing struggles in the Philippines are sometimes fought with direct
action. The urban housing group Kadamay in 2017 used direct action to occupy and directly expropriate empty homes in Bulacan by occupying
them with families in need of a home. They were also able to defend this expropriation through direct action to the point of even President
Duterte conceding the issue. Indeed, they were even decried as ‘anarchists', much to the chagrin of their National Democratic orientation.6
We also see direct action in the countryside. Peasant groups use direct action to till idle land they do not own in a practice called
bungkalan. Instead of relying on the notoriously slow and corrupt Department for Agrarian Reform to expropriate land from landlords and
oligarchs, these farmers do it themselves and hurt no-one except property rights in the process. Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng
Pilipinas has called bungkalan the ‘collective efforts of farmers to assert genuine land reform'.7 Bungkalan then becomes a form of
resistance against feudal landholders who hoard land for themselves.
Direct action is also practiced by environmental activists. In Palawan, environmental activists take it upon themselves to confiscate
chainsaws and guns from illegal loggers and poachers.8 These activists understand that if the state cannot protect their environments, they
will have to do it themselves, sometimes at the cost of their lives.
Direct action also dovetails with mutual aid. After the reemergence of anarchism in the archipelago, Food Not Bombs organizations were set
up as systems of mutual aid/bayanihan. Food Not Bombs are networks of mutual aid that freely distribute food among indigent people. These
networks are organized along anarchist lines using voluntary association and egalitarian organizing.9 Rather than waiting for an authority
to organize food distribution or lobbying for such a thing in congress, Food Not Bombs does it themselves. They are able to distribute food
to people all the while rejecting the use of hierarchical organization.
The Anarchy of Everyday Life
Beyond libertarian elements in existing movements, it can be argued that anarchy already exists all around us, as Bas Umali suggests in his
essay Anarki: Akin ang Buhay Ko - Sariling Determinasyon at Pagpapasya Tungo sa Panlipunang Rebolusyon[Anarchy: My Life is My Own - Self
Determination and Deciding Towards Social Revolution]. For Umali, anarchy is mutual cooperation without need of coercion or payment. Anarchy
is whenever we relate to each other as equals and peers and whenever we discuss among ourselves the issues we have instead of relying on an
authority figure. We already naturally organize ourselves in egalitarian and non-hierarchical lines when we organize among friends. Human
cooperation is already natural.10 What anarchists want is for all social relations to be organized under egalitarian lines with free
association and free from hierarchy and coercion.
Not Foreign, but Already Present
These examples of libertarian elements - Mutual aid/bayanihan, direct action and egalitarian organizing - are then not foreign ideas. They
already exist today in our lives and in our contexts. The task of the anarchists in the archipelago is to identify these elements and
contextualize these for an anarchist praxis.
Currently, anarchists in the archipelago have been able to create spaces for autonomy and mutual aid such as infoshops and Foot Not Bombs
networks. Infoshops are spaces for the dissemination and propagation of anarchist materials and are sites for autonomous organizing. These
Infoshops and Food Not Bombs are embedded in urban communities and conduct community outreach and mutual aid activities. These are spaces
where anarchist principles can be practiced and taught. When there is a need for local action such as in resisting evictions, these local
anarchist groups mobilize for these tasks.
Towards an Anarchist Social Movement
However, while creating spaces for autonomy away from state, capital, and hierarchies is good it is still insufficient for liberation for
revolutionary anarchists. We revolutionary anarchists are not content with spaces for autonomy, we desire total liberation for all. More
than an autonomous anarchism, we must forward a revolutionary anarchism in the archipelago. Much more than creating autonomous spaces, this
revolutionary anarchism aims to challenge capital and the state. By revolutionary we mean a movement to abolish the current state of things,
to challenge hierarchy and domination and not merely carve spaces for autonomy.
For anarchism to become revolutionary, it must become a social movement. Anarchism as a social movement entails organizing at the
point-of-production and organizing communities. We have already established that libertarian elements already exist in social movements in
the archipelago. What anarchists would like are these social movements to consciously organize in non-hierarchical and egalitarian manner
and use the tools promoted by anarchism like direct action, solidarity, and mutual aid. By forwarding such a liberatory politics, these
social movements have the potential to become spaces for creative deliberation that expands the agency of the people involved to become full
subjects in their politics. Such an anarchist social movement ought to show people that they have the collective power to emancipate
themselves. Such an anarchist social movement would do so not as an authority figure, but as a partner and collaborator in liberation.
Anarchists are not the kind of revolutionaries who ‘grant' liberation to others, as we think liberation is a thing that can only be done by
those oppressed. As the classic socialist adage goes: the liberation of the worker is the task of the worker alone. Liberation is not
granted, it is built, taken and defended. This liberation is tied up together and requires the liberty of everybody to be fully enjoyed. As
anarchists, we must be in the business of ‘arousing the sentiment of rebellion' of people and allow them to know they have this power to
liberate themselves when organized.
We hope that by situating anarchism in the already-existing liberatory politics in the archipelago can better contextualize the anarchist
tradition in the Philippines. Libertarian elements very much already exist, our task now is to wed these to an anarchist politics and make
steps towards our liberation.
References
Full length original article: Simoun Magsalin, "Towards an Anarchism in the Philippine Archipelago," Bandilang Itim, March 31 2020,
available at: https://bandilangitim.noblogs.org/2020/03/31/towards-an-anarchism-in-the-philippine-archipelago/
See examples in David Graeber, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology (Chicago: Prickly Paradigm, 2004). Available at:
https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/1557/paradigm14.pdf[?]
Roger White, Post Colonial Anarchism (The Anarchist Library, 2016[2005]). Available at:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/roger-white-post-colonial-anarchism[?]
William Henry Scott, The Union Obrera Democratica: First Filipino Labor Union (Quezon City: New Day, 1992), pg 13-18.[?]
Randy Nobleza & Jong Pairez, ‘Ang Potensyal na Anarkistang Tendensiya ng Diliman Commune', Gasera, n.d. Available at
https://libcom.org/blog/ang-potensyal-na-anarkistang-tendensiya-ng-diliman-commune-23022020[?]
For examples of mutual aid, see Pëtr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (The Anarchist Library, 2009[1902]) available at:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-kropotkin-mutual-aid-a-factor-of-evolution, and Peter Gelderloos, Anarchy Works, (The Anarchist
Library, 2011[2010]), available at: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-anarchy-works[?]
Pia Ranada, Duterte lets Kadamay have Bulacan housing units, Rappler, April 4 2017, available at:
https://rappler.com/nation/duterte-kadamay-housing-police-soldiers. For a timeline of the events, see also the well-cited Wikipedia article
on the Pandi housing project occupation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandi_housing_project_occupation[?]
Ryan Macasero, ‘A closer look at "bungkalan", the supposedly sinister plot', Philippine Star, October 29 2018, available at:
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/10/29/1864216/closer-look-bungkalan-supposedly-sinister-plot. See also, Anna Bueno, ‘In bungkalan,
organic and sustainable farming is a mass movement', CNN Philippines, April 2 2019, available at:
https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2019/4/2/bungkalan.html[?]
Nick Aspinwall, ‘Threats, raids and murders stalk Filipino environment activists', Al Jazeera, 6 December 2019, available at:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/threats-raids-murders-stalk-filipino-environment-activists-191128071615516.html[?]
For a history of the movement, see Taks A. Barbin, Ang Food Not Bombs sa Kapuluan (Rizal: Safehouse Infoshop, 2018).[?]
Bas Umali, Anarki: Akin ang Buhay Ko - Sariling Determinasyon at Pagpapasya Tungo sa Panlipunang Rebolusyon, (AID Kolektibo, NoN Collective,
n.d.). Available at: http://libcom.org/files/anarki-akin-ang-buhay-ko.pdf[?]
Tags
English, Simoun Magsalin
https://bandilangitim.noblogs.org/2020/10/06/the-libertarian-elements-in-the-philippine-archipelago/
------------------------------
Message: 10
A scattering of funds, a redistribution not always fair, even opaque ... but also a positive experience with the unification of the
CGT-Solidaires fund. It is by forging that one becomes a blacksmith ! ---- The great winter strike of 2019-2020 had, with confinement, a
fishtail end, without victory or defeat, but with certain achievements and certain limits. Among these: the problem of the strike fund. ----
In some establishments, funds were launched on the first day of the strike. Soon almost every depot, every workshop, every line had its own.
From the demonstration of December 17, the processions carted dozens of piggy banks for the benefit of the RATP strikers. Their filling was
as substantial as it was uneven: some collected more than 50,000 euros, others less than 5,000. There are various reasons for these
disparities, but the facts are there: the boxes found themselves in competition.
Thereupon, the managers of the famous union Info'com-CGT [1]have offered their help, on condition that the funds paid are managed in a
pluralistic and centralized manner by several unions of the RATP. All of them got rid of themselves, with the exception of the CGT and
Solidaires, which unified their funds. Thus, on December 24, Info'com gave them a check for 150,000 euros.
The strike continued unabated until mid-January, but rather than signing a second check for the benefit of all RATP strikers, Info'com
indicated that funds would be paid to local funds which would complete a folder. Lacking information or contacts, some establishments have
given up. Among those who sent a request to Info'com, some were served, others not. And, the sums distributed may have varied from single to
double, without a plausible explanation. Some checks have even been paid for the benefit of a category: the drivers of such and such a line,
for example. But why exclude the counter clerks, whose salaries are much lower?? In short, the distribution of checks has sometimes looked
like a publicity stunt... and has widened the disparities between the different funds.
Do better next time
It must be said that the RATP unions have their responsibility in this mess: most looked elsewhere when they were approached by Info'com ;
Solidaires-RATP failed to convince to merge all the funds ; the CGT-RATP showed little interest in the issue, and even almost derailed (for
lack of pluralist management) the payment of 150,000 euros. And what about FO-RATP, which distributed among its only members the money paid
by the FO-Transports federation, while Solidaires and the CGT returned all the donations to all the strikers ?
In total, the unified strike fund, co-managed by the CGT and Solidaires, collected 730,000 euros. The redistribution was done in two stages:
285 euros maximum per striker for December ; around 230 for January. Triple with the help of the best-off local funds. In short, a
posteriori compensation, whereas it would have to be a real help during the strike, to encourage it ... It is up to the struggle unionists
to rely on this experience to do better in the future !
Alexis (UCL Saint-Denis)
Validate
[1] Read also: "Info'com CGT: Bad luck for virtual virtuosos" , Alternative libertaire, July-August 2020.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?RATP-Caisses-de-greve-ne-pas-reediter-les-cafouillages
------------------------------
Message: 11
The Commoner talks to Bandilang Itim, an organisation rallying together anarchists and libertarians in the so-called Philippines. ----
Retrieved from The Commoner. ---- Proudly flying the black flag in the archipelago known as the Philippines are our next interviewees:
Bandilang Itim. Aiming to be the banner that rallies together anarchists and libertarians in the region, this revolutionary anarchist
publishing platform commits itself to producing original, well-informed content on local issues and events, and disseminating the writing
and ideas of other anarchists and libertarians from the area and its diaspora. Be sure to check out their very professional pamphlets and
zines, and follow them on Twitter to hear about their new events. In this interview, we ask their members what they wish to achieve, how
they organise themselves, and how they deal with the struggles they face in the Philippines.
How did Bandilang Itim come to be?
Butingtaon: A group of friends reaching out to likeminded people, and deciding that anarchist philosophy isn't represented in its best form
at the present.
Malaginoo: It was a group of like-minded friends and comrades that decided anarchism in the archipelago needed more eyes on it, especially
since it's existed in PH for a long time.
Magsalin: Bandilang Itim came about as a project between friends who want to popularize anarchist and libertarian thought in this
archipelago. Originally we had bigger plans to organize the atomized anarchists that exist into a larger organization, but we are still not
on that stage. For now, we are an affinity group that maintains a publishing platform for which our milieu can use to initiate debate and
dialogue.
Ponkan: People get the same idea and just do it.
What part do you hope to play in the anarchist movement?
Butingtaon: Help spread anarchist practices and philosophy in the archipelago, with a focus on wider social organizing (labor, gender
struggles, ecology, etc).
Malaginoo: Basically, Bandilang Itim is a propaganda arm, a vibe, signal boosting the different issues and advocacies under the
anti-authoritarian umbrella here and in SEA.
Magsalin: Perhaps speaking for myself, I hope that the publishing platform known as Bandilang Itim can be part of the embryo for the birth
of a more involved anarchism in social and mass movements. To be clear, I have no pretensions on Bandilang Itim being the embryo of a future
revolutionary movement. But I do hope our work can spark something greater than ourselves.
Anarchism in the Philippines is relatively new. While anarchist ideas like Malatesta's classical pamphlet Between Peasants arrived in the
Philippines in the 1900s and sparked the founding of the first labor federation, for decades since anarchism was absent. To be sure, anarchy
was likely present in various spaces where the state was not present like in distant and in indigenous communities and anarchistic and
libertarian practices existed, but anarchism as a social movement would not be fully born until the 1990s from which the current anarchist
milieu has its source.
Ponkan: As far as I know, BI is the loudest Filipino Anarchist group out there so its main focus is speaking up and offering an anarchist
perspective on the local situation. We want to link like-minded people together and lay the groundwork for a more concrete libertarian
movement in the islands for the modern day.
How are you organised as a group? Who or what bodies make the decisions?
Butingtaon: We're organized horizontally, of course. We determine goals collectively, divide it into tasks which are then picked up at the
convenience of our individual members. Things that could potentially be divisive are not decided at once, if they are not urgent, and are
instead allowed some time for a consensus to form. Things that require immediate actions are delegated to the member that we feel is best
suited for the task.
Malaginoo: If I can share an anecdote we've had, while setting up our spaces for discussion, we've come to the conclusion that the
video-sharing app we've been using allowed anyone to discuss their views and come to a decision without anyone having the authority to ban
or mute someone easily. I could say it's the same with us.
Magsalin: We are an affinity group and so we have no need of specific bodies that make decisions like general assemblies, spokescouncils, or
mandated delegations. If a thing needs deciding, we talk about it and mostly rely on consensus. Consensus is still an easy task as we are
not numerous.
Ponkan: I don't consider ourselves organized, more collaborating. We act on our own initiative based on each other's insights and mutual
intentions. It's a nice system.
What specific challenges do you face in the Philippines?
Butingtaon: Two, namely in the form of a general suppression of opposition politics by the Duterte regime, and the decades-old monopoly of
the Maoist CPP-NPA-NDF on Filipino leftist politics.
Malaginoo: The Duterte regime is the biggest challenge. But there is also a big challenge concerning the other side of government, the
opposition made up of liberals, CPP-NPA-NDF socialists that are largely okay with keeping the status quo, even at the detriment of many
working class people.
Magsalin: The state is not yet aware of our organizing and we are careful to stay illegible to its gaze... for now. Should and when we scale
up our organizing, I foresee inevitable conflict with both capital and the state. But for now (and as Malaginoo and Butingtaon have noted),
our biggest challenge is the CPP-NPA-NDF or the Communist Party of the Philippines - New Peoples Army - National Democratic Front, or
otherwise called the National Democrats or NatDems. NatDems are our homegrown Maoist movement. While they do good work in some places like
in organizing proletarians and peasants, arming peasants and creating autonomous zones, and organize strikes and the sort, we see them as
ultimately limited by their hierarchical organization, nationalism, and class collaboration.
The hierarchical organization of the NatDems is a big turn off for us. The whole party line that treats individuals as objects, rather than
subjects, in their politics leaves a bad taste in my mouth. From my perspective, it is as if politics is a thing done to the rank-and-file
NatDems by the cadre, rather than people doing politics as full subjects in the fullness of their subjectivity. This politics done by the
cadre with the rank-and-file as mere objects was most obvious in the bloody purges of the 80s and 90s which saw hundreds of committed
communists and militants murdered by their own comrades in fits of collective paranoia. No one should have the power to murder their own
comrades. This violence is not strictly internal. In the early 2000s, the cadre released a list of "counter-revolutionaries" from social
democratic parties and rival revolutionary parties. The people on the list started to turn up very dead. It seems the Party is hostile to
plurality and we cannot work with them.
Another issue we have with the NatDems is their nationalism and class collaboration. NatDems infamously backed "the first socialist
president" Duterte in his campaign and in his early presidency. They were easily swayed by Duterte's hypernationalist line. Duterte's
fascism was so obvious to us and many others but the official nationalist and patriotic line of the party blinds them to fascism and
promotes class collaboration with other "patriots." This class collaborationist line is not new and there have been multiple times before
Duterte when they collaborated with a wing of the bourgeoisie. If you read their manifesto Philippine Society and Revolution it clearly
spells out under what contexts the Maoist communist movement ought collaborate with so-called patriotic or national bourgeoisie. We have no
such illusions with nationalism. While I understand why certain black anarchists see value in nationalism, our opposition to nationalism is
very much informed by the experience of class collaboration.
Due to their highly capable level of organization, National Democracy and the Party enjoy a privileged position in the radical spaces in the
archipelago, and it is hard to avoid them altogether. We are ready and willing to work with the non-NatDem left composed of social democrats
and so-called Rejectionists (who are called so because they descended from groups within the party that rejected a reaffirmation of Maoism).
But as we mentioned before, the Party is anti-pluralistic. We do not want to be purged or assassinated, so we must be careful in engaging
with National Democracy.
Ponkan: The police killed an activist just this month and tried to cover it up. They also killed two civilians and claimed it was a drug
bust. Our spaces of communication are under threat of being replaced by ones of surveillance. Our freedom and civil society is under threat.
The Philippines appears to lie at a crossroads between US and Chinese imperialism, what effect does this have on the area and how does this
intersect with your anarchism?
Butingtaon: On a wider scale, it seems to our countryfolk that it's a choice between the Devil you know (the US) and the Devil you don't
(China). While we support any anti-imperialist actions and want to promote a libertarian perspective on the matter, we are cautious to
contribute to the anti-Chinese racist sentiment that is beginning to form in the country.
Malaginoo: Anti-imperialism, especially against the US, has been a sentiment in the country for a long time, but only now has anti-Chinese
imperialism really become a rallying call for many people of the archipelago. We stand against all empires and we are trying to show it from
a libertarian and anarchist perspective, which of course would include against anti-racism, since many people do not separate the actions of
the PRC from the actions of Chinese peoples.
Magsalin: Imperialism is a world system. It is not simply a matter of PRC or USA imperializing this country, it is a matter for the
imperialism of international capital. PRC and USA capital both operate and imperialize, as does so-called national capital, Singaporean
capital, Japanese capital, and Australian capital. It is in this we see how imperialism is a world system. The specific offensives by the
PRC military in the West Philippine Sea that encroaches on the spaces of the Philippine working class generates opposition between National
Democracy and the PRC. On one hand, it is fortunate we do not have tankies that uncritically defend the PRC in the Philippines, on the other
hand, the opposition of National Democracy to the PRC is predicated on patriotism as much as it predicated on anti-imperialism.
So where does that leave us? We join the chorus speaking out against both PRC and USA imperialism. We also take a principled and independent
stance outside the ambit of National Democracy.
Ponkan: I wouldn't say crossroads, more like a sudden shift. The old elite are being sidestepped by the government in favor of pro-PRC
stooges. Given the developments in Hong Kong and the passage of the Anti-Terror Law, the creeping influence is an immediate concern for
sure. The discourse however is still choosing one or the other, so its a hurdle that must be taken care of.
How have your interactions been with local and state governments?
Butingtaon: In a project separate from Bandilang Itim, we found that local governments are more likely to be willing to work with individual
or small-group initiatives more than the national government. We recently ceased said project because one of the provisions of the recent
Anti-Terror Law is how mutual-aid projects that are not state-sanctioned could be deemed an "act of Terrorism".
Malaginoo: I can't answer this well, but I can say that the state doesn't like mutual aid outside of their own.
Magsalin: Our interaction with local and state governments have been mostly that of avoidance. We avoid them. Should we intervene in
municipal issues, we will have more to tell about our interactions with local and state governments. Alas, we only started organizing this
year and we don't have much to tell yet.
Ponkan: For now, anarchists don't matter to the cops or the government. We're just junkies to them. Keeping that perception will be crucial
in the future.
How do you interact with your community/ies?
Butingtaon: We implement what is called "Concentric Circles of Involvement", first named in the FARJ's "Social Anarchism and Organization".
It is a rubric for establishing spaces for connecting to people who support us but are not involved in the day-to-day affairs of BI, people
who actively help reach our goals, etc. This means having several chat rooms, spaces and organizations with which to communicate with people
within and outside our immediate affinity group.
Malaginoo: Concentric Circles of Involvement, as Butingtaon said. Especially in this pandemic season, safe digital spaces is what we need to
carry this forward.
Magsalin: Some in our affinity group have organized mutual aid activities with communities. As we started just recently we don't have much
to tell yet. Ask us again in a year or two. As Butingtaon noted, we do have a circle of sympathizers. It's an online community, of sorts. We
are careful not to discuss organizing in these spaces, to prevent liability around the recent Anti-Terrorism Law, which can tag anyone as a
terrorists. Yet should those sympathetic to our group wish to be more involved, we will be ready to welcome them.
Ponkan: We're all over the place and we don't want to give anything away, but to give an answer, we prefer working on areas where mutual aid
is most needed.
What advice would you give to those looking to build a group like yours?
Butingtaon: Two things:
State clearly and early what the specific duties and projects the group will be doing, as to not be sidetracked into what Italian
insurrectionary anarchist Bonanno calls "the logic of domination", where the growth and power of the group becomes the end-all, be-all of
the group.
The program is direct action. Direct action is the program. Related to the first point, the group, even if it's just a pair of people, must
do something, doesn't matter what, in order to get a response from whatever communities they are in. There will be people who will support
that action, and it is in that group's best interests to reach out to those pockets of support, while keeping in mind operational security.
Malaginoo: All I can say personally is that there are many people out there who are disgruntled and angry about what's happening. We're all
like cats. We're there, and yeah, we're hard to find and round up, but after you have enough cats you can scare any dog to an inch of its
life. You just have to start rounding them up, and start preparing for that scare.
Magsalin: I would suggest finding a group of friends and enjoy the work you do. We are motivated by joy, rather than say out of patriotism
or duty. If we do not enjoy what we do then perhaps it shouldn't be done. The birthing of a new world is a labor of joy. The contributions
that our comrades put into this platform is through the enjoyment of it all. What use is liberation if it is boring and demanding? So
demanding you have reified another authority in its stead?
Form affinity groups and reach out to other affinity groups (including ours!). Perhaps with a network of affinity groups we can build
something wonderful.
Ponkan: Practice OPSEC. The world is burning right now and its governments are becoming desperate. Prepare for the worst.
Is there anything else you would like to add that we have not covered?
Butingtaon: I believe that's everything. Thank you for taking the time to hear our story, and I hope you and yours stay safe.
Malaginoo: That's all for me as well. Power to all of you. Thank you.
Magsalin: On our name. The name "Bandilang Itim" hearkens back to a long anarchist tradition of naming organizations after the black flag
("Bandilang Itim" means "Black Flag" in Tagalog). There have been countless organizations named "Black Flag" in all kinds of languages and
until now there was not yet one in Tagalog, so it was a perfect name for our little project. Another reason I suggested "Bandilang Itim" as
the name was to give a little homage to the student uprising several decades back in an event now infamously known as the Diliman Commune.
The chief publication of the Diliman Commune was Bandilang Pula, or "Red Flag." Not only does it hearken back to the anarchist tradition of
naming organizations "Black Flag," but it also hearkens back to radical youth during the days of the dictatorship.
Ponkan: Best to be Without Adjectives.
Tags
Butingtaon, English, interview, Malaginoo, Ponkan, Simoun Magsalin
https://bandilangitim.noblogs.org/2020/10/06/bringing-the-black-flag-to-the-philippines/
------------------------------
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