In an effort to initiate action after the 2019 midterm elections, Alyansang Tapat sa Lasallista (Tapat) hosted Game Plan 2022: A post elections debriefing-self-care-planning session at the Yuchengco Hall last Friday, June 7. The event was organized by Tapat, in partnership with youth civic groups and the Center for Social Concern and Action.
Representatives from Youth Resist, Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking (CYAN) Pilipinas, Youth for Mental Health Coalition, Inc., Akbayan Youth, and Student Council Alliance of the Philippines were present to share their sentiments on the recently concluded 2019 midterm elections.
On 21st century social movements
Basilio Claudio, Youth Resist convenor, opened the session by orienting the audience on today’s social movements. Claudio referred to political philosopher Michael Hardt and his book, Assembly, which compares social movements during the 20th and the 21st century. “Hardt’s primary argument is that the social movements of today are leaderless—leaderless, but collective,” Claudio explained.
According to Claudio, social movements in the the 21st century are based on collective decisions rather than charismatic leaders. “It is dangerous for us to think that movements today are organized by a central authority [because it may] leave very undemocratic ideas,” Claudio stressed. “Just because a movement is leaderless, doesn’t mean it does not have any organization.”
Claudio cited Youth Resist as an example, which started out as an organic movement in 2017 when members wanted to have a collective voice against extrajudicial killings. He highlighted, however, that Youth Resist does not only aim to speak against dictatorship, but also to “build something in the future.”
Post-election processing
Akbayan Youth Secretary-General Justine Balane led the first huddle session where participants gathered together to share their experiences and insights on the 2019 midterm elections. “We are here today to process our feelings [toward the] very shocking 2019 elections,” he told the audience.
Balane opened the segment by gathering participants’ sentiments on the May elections, assuring that the activity was a space to discuss how the youth can change elections amid the recent polls. Students touched on matters such as people’s voting behaviors, the glitches in the Commission on Elections transparency server, and the alleged anomalies. Echoing the audience’s thoughts, Balane commented, “We feel disappointed. We are in disbelief.”
Despite the claim that the election was the most accurate at 99.99 percent accuracy—in reference to the published result of the random manual audit—it was also the “dirtiest” as it had the most cases of vote buying, he alleged. He also highlighted President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent statement to “dispose” of Smartmatic as the current provider of the country’s vote counting machines.
“Nakakawala siya ng confidence for the automated election, and galing pa from the President mismo,” he continued.
(It takes away confidence in the automated election, especially since it came from the President himself.)
After Balane asked participants about the possible impact of the poll outcome on democratic institutions, one participant shared her view that the administration has amassed “very strong” power, to the point where they have control over other government branches.
“A lot of loyalists are getting government positions, [and so are] a lot of military officials, all to enclose [and] consolidate further government institutions,” Balane claimed.
During the final part of Balane’s session, students shared ways to engage family members and more people in political discussion and influencing opinion.
Self-care for activists
Susan Quimpo, art therapist and member of the Martial Law Chronicles Project, facilitated the next session, in which she stressed the importance of self-care for activists and student leaders. She recommended to the crowd the practice of art therapy after sharing their thoughts and emotions toward the 2019 midterm elections.
“Long-term ‘to na labanan, kaya i-set niyo yung goals niyo,” Quimpo, who has been an activist for over 40 years, shared to the audience.
(You have to set your goals because activism is a long-term battle).
She expressed that youth activists should still prioritize their education because it will make them “better [servants] of the community and the country.”
Quimpo gave audience members tips on self-care, among them was avoiding exposure to certain political personalities on television and radio, which she referred to as a “subliminal bombardment of negative things.”
Youth for Mental Health Coalition National Chairperson Dr. Raymond John Naguit was also present to lead the students in breathing and relaxation exercises. He emphasized that self-care cannot be achieved alone and has to be a community effort. After narrating his experience with burnout, Naguit gave a couple of stress management methods from his medical perspective.
Rafaela David, Executive Director of CYAN Pilipinas, led the final segment and gave parting words to the participants. Paraphrasing a statement from Sen. Antonio Trillanes to summarize their ongoing fight, she declared, “We should not be the monsters we seek to fight.”
