The maltreatment and captivity of these animals mirror how activists are being treated today — tortured, gagged into silence, and suppressed. They are perceived as prey of the people inaugurated at the high seat —predators that hunt them down, kill them for their peace, and play with their food like how they toy with ordinary people like us. They twist the reality and blame it on the people who yell for justice and fairness, they tie them up and shut their mouths until they suffocate by their truth.

The hunt for these wild and free creatures captures the essence of the uproar of the oppressed along the streets of our community as they howl for the freedom and justice they continuously battle for every single day. The question is — who is the real enemy? Is it the weaponless people speaking for the truth or the merciless patriarchy continuously caging the people? What did they do to deserve a life full of threat and danger? 

Blood-Colored Life

Not everyone lives in la vien rose…champagne on ice, cloud-like beds, and the fresh morning breeze that most people want to feel touching their skin. But funny what the reality is for the life of activists, all the grave injustices, corruption, discrimination, exploitation, and misinformation—they see and are aware of all of it. They are the ones who try to understand the most alarming problems in society at their deepest roots and their most fundamental level. And yet, they are the ones targeted to be erased from this world first.

They are a true human in nature but a wild animal is how people in power perceive them. And when those people are dressed in power, their rose-colored lenses become tainted and blurry, and the sight of the people who hold truth and fairness for all turns to this pale red vision that forces them to view a world with blood-colored lenses—a society where injustice, killings, and oppression are the prevalent entities that consume the world.

With this kind of world existing, our safety and security are truly at risk. That is why activists and progressive organizations live in fear but are never in doubt about what they fight and stand for; deep inside they know what they are shouting for during rallies and protests. They are perceptive about the danger that they will encounter once they are in a mobilization. They know about the gratification once they have finally revolutionized against the oppressive system that is caging them from reaping everyone’s right to live soundly and decently.

Caged Truth

“Ang namulat, hindi na muling pipikit.” [Those who have become aware, will not close their eyes again.] The atrocious challenge, unfortunately, among these socially conscious individuals, is the Philippine government’s constant threat of terrorism. Those who involve themselves in social and political movements could easily be red-tagged and be branded as terrorists. Truth be told, it is prevalent. But just because it happens so often, does not mean it is right and normal. This form of sketchy branding will NEVER be normal.

On the 3rd of July 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020,” which Amnesty International calls out due to the legislation’s threatening provisions crippling the human rights of Filipino citizens. Allowing warrantless arrests, 24-day detention without charges, privacy and freedom suppression, and even suspension of the right to due process ascertain how this terror law only inflames the already scarred human rights of activists by equating them to terrorists, with a vague list of criteria defined under the bill.

 “The law is a threat to democracy and a way of the state to silence progressives and activists,” as worded by Sarah Ayesha Bustamante, a member of Jovenes Anakbayan Naga City and Kabataan Partylist (KPL) CamSur. 

Protestors, environmental defenders, activists, human rights advocates, and journalists—it sounds loose and erroneous that these people who legally and actively exercise their rights to deliver the truth,  express public discontent, expose government dishonesty, and put the spotlight on the oppressed are called a threat to the nation. 

Why are they targeted? One obvious answer comes to mind—it is not because they are a threat to humanity, but it is because the administration is threatened by them—terrified that the blood in their hands will be out for revelation.  It is not the activists who should quiver in fear, it is the regime that is shaking. It is apparent that the only way they can think of is to skin these courageous and powerful individuals' rights to keep a grasp of their unjust authority.

Skin Them Alive

“Mga tao rin kami,” were the last words uttered by a Caviteño activist group coordinator, Ka Manny Asuncion, before his last moments after being killed inhumanely along with eight other activists from the Southern Tagalog region. The horrifying turn of events happened on the 7th of March 2021, which is now commonly identified as “Bloody Sunday.”

In the Philippines, killings among 25 human rights defenders were verified in 2020, and 15 killings during the first half of 2021 alone. In Bicol, there were at least 58 activists killed from the year 2016 to 2022 (Gavilan, 2021). In May 2021, Anakbayan Naga chairperson Sasah Sta. Rosa and Bayan Bicol spokesperson Pastor Dan Balucio were arrested in a separate search with recorded evidence of firearms, which are believed to be planted (Cepedo, 2021). 

The former administration of Duterte continuously labels these human rights defenders as “terrorists” and “sympathizers” and authorizes policemen to persecute them as if they are wild, dangerous groups of beasts covered in spines when they are actual people, with not even a single firearm. Yet, with a replacement of the new governing power, the remnants of the human rights crisis left by the previous regime remain uncleaned, as a parallel administration led by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in collaboration with the former president’s daughter, Sara Duterte, assumes control.

Karapatan highlighted that the current Marcos administration has already recorded eight instances of involuntary disappearances within the first 10 months, which accounts for 40 percent of the total of 20 documented cases throughout Duterte's six-year term (Ocampo, 2023). This surge in involuntary or enforced disappearances during Marcos Jr's initial year in Malacañang is worrisome indeed. Furthermore, Bayan Muna President, Satur Ocampo in Philstar, echoes Karapatan’s estimated count of 60 extrajudicial killings documented in 40 separate occurrences throughout the country as of 30 June 2023. Among these incidents, it was reported that 20 happened in Negros, while 16 took place in Bicol. 

Even more recently, AKAP KA and the human rights organization Karapatan brought attention to the abduction and forced signing of "surrender documents" by Army officers involving two young environmental activists, Jonila Castro, and Jhed Tamano, in Bataan on September 2nd (Gozum, 2023). That same month in Camarines Sur, The Democrat, a student publication at the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) in Naga City reported alleged harassment by Philippine Army soldiers who took their pictures without consent during a rally, commemorating the Martial Law anniversary. The publication’s editors also disclosed having received acts of intimidation and barangay summons for a meeting with nameless Army officers (Espina-Varona, 2023). In response, the student editors declined the suspected invitation, following the UNC student body’s release of a statement concerning the coercion.

The Hunt

An activist must not be afraid of being hunted. Rather, what an activist should be frightened of is seeing the persisting cruel injustice brought upon the world. Staying quiet in the midst of remorseful and vicious times further feeds the ruthless intentions of corrupt government administrations.

Slashed, bashed, and hunted by the people in power, they tear apart the body and dignity of activists from limb to limb until they lose their capacity to speak and stand for justice. As long as there is an oppressive system breathing under our noses—protestors will continuously be caged against their will and stripped of their humility until they lose their soul in the process of condemnation.

Although the fear of uncertainty lingers, there is something noble and true when we immerse ourselves in the masses. Seeing the real-life struggle and hardships that marginalized and oppressed sectors experience in their lives, the mass integration that they embed with their lives plays a significant role in attaining freedom and fairness. 

Organize, arouse, and mobilize. These three are stressed by Bustamante as the ways youth can create positive change. “Join NDMOs, educate ourselves, and others, and participate in activities that contribute to the movement. And most importantly, serve the masses,” she concluded.

The Uproar

We should be getting louder and louder in calling out the authorities, we are not blind nor muted to stay naive and indifferent about the grave imbalance that the government has permeated in the status quo. To create an uproar is to break from all of the injustices. They get up, assemble, and mobilize in solidarity to reach critical mass, eventually shaping a collective that aims to serve the marginalized and campaign for change. 

An activist is not a wild animal; they are not meant to be hunted and imprisoned in cages like wild animals in the zoo. They shouldn’t be captured in tight ropes and red laser dots, crying like unstoppable boars. They shouldn’t have scarred beaks hushing their roars, nor have covered snouts restricting their investigating capacities. With their open and all-knowing eyes, they shall remain conscious and alarmed, as they forcibly flap their furious wings—screeching for the freedom of everyone. 

But sometimes no matter how fearless they are—there is a more ruthless beast—having its merciless and bloodthirsty hands resting on a pointed gun. 

Tell us…who's the real animal now?