Food Not Bombs Archipelago writes a statement in opposition to the Anti-Terror Act.
Homelessness and hunger is prevalent in many countries. People begging for food and malnourished children are common images in many places around the world that used to have healthy communities and ecology. While people are enduring poverty and hunger, governments particularly the first worlds are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to develop war materials they use to control other countries through war, intimidation and manipulations.
Food Not Bombs (FNB) is a solidarity and non-violent action against social injustice. Food sharing is a practical respond to hunger caused by inequality where huge number of people deprived of access to protein while the few elite live extravagantly and using social patrimony to state activities involving violence and oppression of people and destruction of ecology. People from Punk/Hardcore, DIY, Art communities and anarchists who are involved in culture of sharing and inclined to horizontal processes naturally attracted to FNB.
Many marginalized communities in so-called Philippine archipelago are enduring the lack of basic necessity such as shelter, food, water, education and livelihood. The acute inequality and social justice rob the people of opportunities to improve their well being to secure the future of their families and communities.
FNB came in the archipelago during the 1990s as a respond to systemic poverty. It quickly spread like a wildfire in the archipelago particularly after the famous Battle in Seattle – a resistance against trade liberalization during World Trade Organisations Conference. Incidentally, during this period, anarchist collectives and individuals sprouted like mushrooms which thrive in fertile underground culture scenes and art communities.
FNB is not a monotonous activity of food provision to hungry people. It is a creative resistance designed to provide not only protein requirements but also engaged in sharing critical information and skills through workshops, discussions, dialogue, cultural presentations and other educational activities. It is frequently combined with really, really free market where people are encouraged to share their unwanted things to those in need. This event is not design to recruit people to a particular group but this encourages the people to self organize based on voluntary basis according to their own capacity. It encourages communities to practice self management under the theme of respect, diversity, decentralize and non-hierarchical relations. FNB is a direct action against capitalism, consumerism and statism. FNB is not an organization but rather an event or an activity can be organized by anyone without asking any permission to anyone or making affiliation to any group. An individual or group of people could organize FNB anytime, anywhere based on their actual context as long as it uphold the basic principles of non-hierarchical, respect, ecological and anti-authoritarian.
Prior to Anti-Terrorism Act, Duterte is already violent. His humorous extemporaneous speeches with twist of sexist acts and remarks could not conceive his thirst for violence. In many occasions he explicitly mentioned his actual involvement in killings. Duterte is a megalomaniac person; he desires more power and hates those who threaten his position. He is vengeful and angry. His words are not empty. He is equitable in terms of retaliations to his “enemies”; from low life thugs, to a teacher, a laborer, overseas worker, senators, and lawyers and as big as corporate media and international institutions they will not be spared from forms of intimidations and harassment. Incarceration of oppositions and killings perpetrated by uniformed personnel and masked motor riding gunmen are the trademarks of his government.
His appetite for violence killed FNB volunteers and incarcerated one. These non-non violent people perished and suffered during War on Drugs operations that killed more than 12,000 which the great majority came from poor families and marginalized communities. Essentially, the war on drugs program is war against the poor and intended to intimidate the people and all forms of oppositions in general.
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 will surely exacerbate the already worst situation of our society. The Duterte administration shrewdly fast tracked the law in the middle of pandemic crisis. A perfect timing were different oppositions rendered immobile giving no chance to react. It has been approved at the committee level and members of the House of Representatives are expected to debate and fast-track its approval before they go on a two-month break from June 6 of this year.
This law will categorise the activities and initiatives of FNB volunteers, autonomous activists and anarchists as terrorism. Under this law, solidarity actions which commonly conduct by the said groups of people will be considered as crime allowing the state to detain suspected individuals without a warrant; longer detentions without charge and give the executive branch more power against dissent. It ruled out the Human Security Act removing government obligations to compensate wrongly accused people.
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is an obvious instrument of a fascist government to curtail freedom that desires to instill fear among the populace to serve the interests of the oligarchs and foreign counterparts
Food Not Bombs volunteers, autonomous activists, independent artists and anarchists strongly condemn the fascist government. We are calling the international resistance to send solidarity to the struggle of different people and community of the archipelago against the authoritarian who serves the interests of few privilege elite.
If you may please organize different forms of action against the Philippines Embassy in your own country to send your support to our fight for freedom.
FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE! FIGHT FASCISM AND STATE SPONSRED TERRORISM! END WAR, POVERTY, HUNGER AND ECOLOGICAL SLAUGHTER
– FOOD NOT BOMBS ARCHIPELAGO
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