Art is Not Terrorism: Solidarity with Panday Sining

On November 30, non-uniformed Manila Police District officers violently arrested four members of youth activist organization Panday Sining after the Andres Bonifacio Day mobilization in Manila. The four activists, including a minor, were illegally detained at the police station for over a week on the grounds of vandalism. They were arrested without a warrant and denied due process.

Panday Sining initiated a “Graffiesta” three weeks ago. The group filled some of Manila’s walls and public spaces with stencils, spray paint, and wheatpaste art to reflect the current state of the Philippine people: struggling with rising costs of living and low wages, repression by police and military forces, the encroachment of foreign interests on their livelihoods, and countless other injustices. The state’s retaliatory response shows us their twisted priorities–to silence, rather than to serve the people and realize our people’s aspirations.

Protest art is produced by the masses who outcry for overt and material reasons. Protest art aims to disturb the status quo, confront the comfortable, and comfort the oppressed. We side with the oppressed to move forward the material conditions of whom the art was based upon – especially in public spaces. As Filipino youth in the diaspora, we are more than justified to express support for our culture of resistance.

Although the Panday Sining 4 were eventually released, the institutionalized suppression of dissenters continues via Oplan Kapanatagan and Executive Order No. 70. Anakbayan Canada condemns the illegal arrest of the Panday Sining 4 and the repression of all activists by the US-Duterte regime. In the face of fascism, it is urgent to continue Bonifacio’s revolutionary legacy.

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