[Philippine corruption] Pangayaw and Decolonizing Resistance Anarchism in the Philippines #5/76
Tribal war, commonly known as head-hunting, was also typical among tribes in northern Luzon. Largely, common causes of attacks and raids were revenge, betrayal of a pact, and unresolved disputes of territorial claims, but not to dominate and to rule.
Highly decentralized these communities were, but in permanent warfare they were not. Interdependent relations provided overall mutual protection and benefits and were common among primitive communities.
The term Filipinooriginally referred to an individual born in the archipelago by Spanish parents. Currently, many of us regard “Filipino” as our superior identity that is upheld by many subgroups and tribes, being dependent on ethnolinguistic identity and geographical affiliation in the archipelago. This goes for basically everyone except tribes that remain isolated and people in the southern Philippines who aim to secede and to establish a Muslim nation.
Our sense of nationalism and identity as “Filipino” was particularly high during the times when revolutionary fervor was strong within us, especially during the Katipunan uprising and the People Power Revolution of 1986. However, the meaning of our identity as “Filipino” continuously changes. After the two major political exercises of EDSA,3social and economic conditions have not changed. Unemployment is steadily increasing, hunger is prevalent, political marginalization is alarming, and ecological destruction is rampant throughout the archipelago and has caused the loss of the livelihoods of millions. While billions of pesos were already spent on agrarian reform during the Aquino regime, this reform is still far from completion.
Prices of basic commodities are increasing fast, while workers’ wages barely move.