Anakbayan

Last modified: 2024-08-10 by zachary harden
Keywords: philippines | anakbayan |
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image by Tomislav Todorovic, 6 May 2024

• About
• Meaning and description

See also:

• Philippines

About

The original "Kabataang Makabayan ("Patriotic Youth") ["KM"} was a communist-youth organization in the Philippines between 1964 to 1972, when it was banned by the Philippine government. Nevertheless, it continued as an underground organization. The "Anakbayan-USA", established on 30 November 1998 – the anniversary of Andres Bonifacio and pre-Martial Law organization ["KM"] -- "Anakbayan-USA" seeks to unite the youth from different sectors of society to advance the cause of national democracy. "Anakbayan" holds the belief that Philippine society today is not truly free nor democratic. It is under the control of U.S imperialism, along with local landlords, big capitalists, and corrupt government officials. The National Democratic Struggle seeks to realize true national liberation for the country and the realization of the democratic rights of the people." There are many city chapters throughout the U.S., Canada, and possibly other countries. Hawaii chapter (March 2020) "Launched on March 12, Anakbayan Hawai’i is a newly registered independent organization at the University of Hawaii at M?noa (UHM) heralding a new era of Filipino youth and student activism in the islands. A part of a wider, international movement called Anakbayan, it aims to bridge Filipino democratic struggles in the Philippines with the local struggles in Hawai’i. It seeks to unite youths from different sectors, particularly within marginalized and indigenous communities, to advance the cause of national democracy in the mother-country as well as in the U.S."
William Garrison, 3 May 2024

Anakbayan (Filipino for "Children of the People") is a leftist organization of Filipino youth (membership age range from 13 to 35), which was founded in Manila on 1998-11-30. As a supporter of National Democracy, a leftist nationalist ideology, it has been repeatedly accused of acting as a legal arm of the insurgency led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. Anakbayan has always rejected such accusations and insisted on operating strictly within legal boundaries. Its activities include offering alternative classes, forums, discussions, political education, integration among impoverished communities, relief operations, dialogue and engagement among government officials and other civic groups, and various forms of protest actions. Anakbayan prioritizes living wages, land reform, expanded social programs and public education, and legal rights. Regarding the protests, it was especially active in the 2001 protests against President Joseph Estrada, as well as during the tenure of President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-22), which was also the period when the accusations of the support for Communist insurgency were at their peak. In addition to operating throughout the country, Anakbayan is also active among the Filipino diaspora, most notably in the USA, Canada and Australia, providing aid in solving the problems they face at their living places.
Tomislav Todorovic, 6 May 2024

image located by William Garrison, 3 May 2024

The generic pattern is a red flag with a large "ᜃ" — the Babayin syllabary letter ka, surrounded by three small five-pointed stars set in a triangle (one above, two below), all in yellow, and the word "Anakbayan" in bold black serif-less capitals immediately underneath. Additional text can be added below, in slightly smaller type, usually the location of each chapter of the organization. The use of Babayin syllabary instead of the Latin alphabet parallels, I suppose, the emphasis this organization places on indigenous communities — while maintaining a symbolic link to the historical political flags of the Philippines sporting one or three (Latin) kays [ph-histo.html]. There can be a practical aspect to it, too, as a triple-K flag in the U.S. could be misperceived as something else [us}kkk.html]. Additionally, the use of Babayin ka on (red) flags is not new for political flags of the Philippines — see f.i. [ph-histo.html#magdalo] and under “Tagalog flag at the Noveleta bridge” on the same page but lacking an anchor (not Human-friendly HTML there, either, with the open H3 tag glued the previous section).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 3 May 2024

The generic flag of Anakbayan is used both in the country and abroad. The domestic use was documented, along with several currently unidentified locations [1, 2], at places such as Diliman, Quezon City [3], Cebu [4, 6] and Northern Samar [7]. In the USA, the flag use was verified in Seattle [8] and Los Angeles [11] and in Australia, it was used in Sydney [12]. In all these examples, the flag design details, such as the shape of the Baybayin letter /ka/ or the color and typeface of the word *AKBAYAN*, may vary a lot. Local chapters of Anakbayan amend the basic design by inscribing the place names beneath the word ANAKBAYAN. The examples from the Philippines include the region of Southern Mindanao [13] and the cities of Cebu [15] and Baguio [18]. In the USA, along with an all-USA flag [19], there are numerous flags of local chapters, such as those in: - Hawaii [21], - New York [22,], with separate chapters in Manhattan and Queens [23], - Los Angeles, with a separate chapter at UCLA [24], In Canada, the chapters with known flags exist in Ottawa [44], Toronto [46], Montreal [44] and Alberta [48], while in Australia, along with an all-Australian flag [49], the flag of Melbourne chapter is known to be used [50]. All of the above examples display a great variation of the design details, mostly in the color and typeface used for the place names, but also of the generic emblem.
Tomislav Todorovic, 6 May 2024