BAYAN Southern Mindanao

04/09/2026

Imagine needing your National ID just to post a meme, message your friends, join a group chat, follow a page, or speak your mind online.

That is what the Marcos administration is now pushing for.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is urging Meta to require users in the Philippines to verify their social media accounts using the National ID. This is social media registration without any law. The government says this will help address online abuse, protect children, and make users more accountable. But making every Filipino identify themselves to the government before they can use social media is not the answer to online safety.

We all want safer online spaces, especially for children and young people. We want scammers, predators, harassers, and people who make credible threats to be held accountable. But why should everyone have to give up their privacy just because some people commit crimes online?

For many young Filipinos, social media is not just for selfies, memes, and TikToks. It is where we learn about issues, organize communities, discuss politics, support causes, expose wrongdoing, and speak out against people in power.

Sometimes, people need to speak without immediately attaching their real-world identity to what they say.
A student calling out abuse in their school.
A worker speaking about exploitation.
A whistleblower exposing corruption.
A young person asking for help.
An activist criticizing the government.

Child safety is not an excuse for mass surveillance. Protecting children online is important. But there are better ways to do it: stronger action against online exploitation, better content moderation, faster investigation of credible threats, stronger protections for minors, and holding Big Tech accountable for how its platforms are designed and operated. We should go after criminals and abusive platforms, not turn every Filipino into a potential suspect.

Anonymity does not automatically mean criminality. In fact, anonymity can protect people who have less power from those who have more. In a country with a history of red-tagging, surveillance, harassment, and attacks against activists and government critics, we have every reason to be cautious about creating systems that make it easier to connect people's online identities to their real-world identities.

This is a cybersecurity issue. The National ID contains sensitive personal information. Connecting government identity systems with social media creates another massive digital infrastructure containing information about millions of Filipinos. Even if the government says it will not directly access everything stored in the National ID database, we still need to ask: Who controls the system? Who can access the information? How is it secured? How long is it kept? What happens if it is breached? And what stops this system from being used for purposes beyond what was originally promised? These aren't hypothetical questions. Every database can be breached. Every system can be abused. We have seen this time and time again, government agencies being hacked, our data being exposed.

The government is also overlooking a basic problem: not every Filipino has a National ID yet. What happens to Filipinos who have not yet been registered? What about people in remote communities, those who have difficulty accessing registration centers, or those who have registered but are still waiting for their ID? Do they simply lose access to social media? Making a National ID a prerequisite for using social media risks creating a new form of digital disenfranchisement. Social media is now an important space for communication, education, organizing, accessing information, and participating in public discussions. People should not be excluded from these spaces because they have not yet obtained a government-issued ID. The right to participate online should not depend on whether the government has already issued you an ID.

The government should be building a safer internet without building a surveillance infrastructure that can be used against everyone. We should not have to choose between safety and freedom. We should have both.

Makabayan calls on DICT and the Marcos administration to abandon mandatory National ID verification for social media accounts. Keep the government's hands off our digital identities. Privacy is a right. Speaking anonymously is not a crime. Social media should not require a government ID.

02/09/2026

REMOVAL OF CHARGES AGAINST BONOAN A PREDETERMINED DECISION AS IMPUNITY PREVAILS

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the removal of former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan as among the accused in the massive flood control scam is a disservice to the call for accountability and justice, and reflects the persistence of corruption impunity and bureaucrat capitalism under the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

As head of the DPWH, Bonoan played a key role in facilitating pork barrel projects involving the Palace and Congress members. His resignation in 2025, the ICI investigation regarding his culpability in the kickback scandal, and the Ombudsman’s filing of graft and plunder charges against him were presented to the public as proof that Marcos was seriously pursuing accountability. This narrative has since then been exposed as a malicious ploy to mislead the public, distract public attention, and douse cold water on the widespread anti-corruption protests.

The predetermined removal of Bonoan in the list of accused follows the shameful maneuver of the Marcos government over the past year to shield the president, his closest relatives and Palace subordinates, and favored cronies and contractors from being held accountable for the systematic theft of public funds.

It further exposes the bogus anti-corruption drive of Marcos who has absurdly called himself as whistleblower while using the vast powers of his office to divert investigations and turn the pursuit of accountability into a closed-door negotiation among thieves.

This infuriating update in Bonoan’s case will stir stronger discontent as communities in Luzon continue to reel from the recent flooding disaster.

Bayan calls on the people to flood the streets with protests on September 21 to denounce corruption impunity and the sinister conspiracy to whitewash the crimes of Palace officials. The failure to punish corrupt officials is the reason why flooding disasters continue to devastate our communities. Bayan enjoins the people in flooded communities and all concerned citizens to organize anti-corruption protests, demand accountability against the Marcos government, and reiterate the clamor for the abolition of the pork barrel and bankrupt political system.

Lahat ng sangkot dapat managot, Marcos singilin, panagutin!
Ikulong ang mga kurakot! Ibasura ang pork barrel!
Burukrata kapitalismo, ibagsak!

02/09/2026

On the arrest of anti-corruption Cebu activist John Ruiz:
FLOOD THE STREETS WITH PROTESTS AND DENOUNCE THE USE OF MARTIAL LAW TACTICS TO SILENCE DISSENT

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan deplores the arrest of Cebu-based activist John Ruiz over a trumped up case, which reflects the continuing weaponization of laws and judicial processes to silence dissent.

Ruiz is a national council member of Bayan and vice president for the Visayas of Makabayan coalition. As Bayan leader, he is at the forefront of various community and sectoral struggles in Cebu and Central Visayas, and an organizer of anti-corruption protests over the past year. He was arrested by a CIDG unit of the police after joining a protest against expanded US militarism in the country.

We question the warrant of arrest issued against Ruiz based on a 2024 murder case in Negros. Ruiz also faced a homicide case in Negros in 2023. We condemn the filing of these trumped up cases based on fabricated evidence to detain activists like Ruiz and undermine the people’s resistance against foreign plunder, military intervention, fascism, and abuse of power.

Ruiz and other anti-corruption activists were also charged for protesting in front of the DPWH office in September 2025. Those who speak out against corruption are harassed, charged with baseless cases, and detained for demanding accountability, while those who steal with impunity continue to access pork barrel projects.

The arrest of Ruiz follows an alarming pattern of criminalizing dissent. It highlights not just the deteriorating state of human rights under the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but also the desperate attempt of those in power to quell public outrage against unresolved corruption scandals. It is Marcos and his ilk who should be held accountable for the flood control scam and the continuing flooding disaster, and not Ruiz and other activist leaders who led the anti-corruption protests over the past year.

Bayan calls for the immediate release of Ruiz, the dropping of trumped up cases against him, and the investigation into the suspicious circumstances regarding his arrest and the operation conducted by the police. Bayan calls on the people to protest the wanton disregard of civil liberties under the Marcos presidency. On September 21, let us flood the streets with protests to denounce the continuing rampant corruption, and the use of Martial Law tactics to attack the people’s democratic rights.

Palayain si John Ruiz!
Ikulong ang mga korap, hindi ang mamamayang lumalaban!
Hindi krimen ang aktibismo, makatwiran ang lumaban!

01/09/2026

01/09/2026

Eleven years since the state-sanctioned extrajudical killing of the Exec. Director of Lumad school ALCADEV, Emerito Samarca, Lumad leader Datu Juvello Sinzo, and chairperson of Lumad People's Organization MAPASU . We honor their legacy of organizing fearlessly against the entrance of large-scale mining, and the militarization that was brought to facilitate it.

The Philippine government did not bring justice to these martyrs and their communities even though the perpetrators were known. However, the paramilitary leader who was puppet to the AFP, was killed by the New People's Army in 2020 for his crimes against the Lumad people.

01/09/2026

CALL FOR DONATIONS! JUNK ALL TRUMPED-UP CHARGES AGAINST JOHN RUIZ!

Following the recent arrest of John Ruiz, MAKABAYAN Vice President for Visayas, we are calling for donations for his bail bond.

John is a mass-leader and activist who advocates for the welfare of the basic masses and courageously expresses dissent against the inequalities of our systems.

This state sponsored attack is part of the ongoing crackdown on activists whose calls are legitimate and highly relevant to our worsening sociopolitical and economic conditions.

Let us help free John Ruiz! You may donate through these channels:

MARIBANK

CLEISTEIL CIMAFRANCA
10409410178

We appreciate all the help and effort for this cause! Free All Political Prisoners! Junk Trumped-up Charges Against John Ruiz!

01/09/2026

ALERT | MAKABAYAN VICE-PRESIDENT FOR VISAYAS JOHN RUIZ REPORTEDLY ARRESTED FOLLOWING NATIONAL HEROES DAY PROTEST ACTION

John Ruiz, current Makabayan Vice-President for Visayas, has reportedly been arrested following the National Heroes Day protest action held at the University of the Philippines Cebu Entrance Gate, where protesters denounced continuing imperialist wars and foreign intervention in the Philippines.

Ruiz was also among the Cebu mass leaders charged under Batas Pambansa 880 (Public Assembly Act of 1985) over an anti-corruption protest outside the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cebu City District Engineering Office on September 5, 2025.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Central Visayas strongly condemns the arrest of Ruiz as another attack against progressive leaders and the broader democratic movement.

Amid rampant social issues and injustices confronting the people, the continuing attacks against progressive organizations, community leaders, and their members only perpetuate and reinforce the reality that state forces do not serve the interests of the broad masses.

These attacks expose how state machinery is being used not to defend the interests of the broad masses, but to suppress opposition and protect the interests of the ruling elite.

Bayan Central Visayas demands the immediate release of John Ruiz and an end to the harassment, intimidation, and attacks against progressive leaders and organizations.

The people’s legitimate exercise of their democratic rights to protest a nd express dissent must be respected and protected.

Bayan Central Visayas will continue to monitor the situation and issue further updates.

01/09/2026

HONOR OUR HEROES BY ABROGATING THE MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATY WITH THE UNITED STATES

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan demands the abrogation of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, which the Philippines signed 75 years ago.

MDT signifies and enables the continuing US military intervention in the country.

Even after the historic rejection of the bases treaty in 1991, the MDT was retained, which allowed the US military to return by deploying rotational troops and establishing facilities under new lopsided deals and arrangements with successive puppet governments.

There is nothing mutual or beneficial in the MDT for the Philippines, despite the claim of subservient Filipino politicians and apologists of US imperialism that it enhanced the country’s security, peace, and development.

For the past 75 years, the MDT laid the framework that reinforced the country’s neocolonial status. The Subic and Clark bases were used as staging grounds for the acts of aggression of the US during the Cold War era, especially its genocidal bombing of the Indochina Peninsula at the height of the Vietnam War.

The MDT provided the supposed legal cover for the costly, disruptive, and provocative military and war exercises of the US in the Philippines. It was cited as the basis for the signing of the Visiting Forces Agreement in 1999, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in 2014, and the Bilateral Defense Guidelines in 2023.

Under the US-Marcos Jr regime, the MDT facilitated the expansion of US military presence and operations across the country. Aggressive US war preparation is maliciously presented as compliance with the MDT, even if the conversion of the country into a forward operating base of the US military endangers the local population, undermines national security, and escalates tension in the region.

75 years of the MDT have clearly demonstrated that its real objective is to entrench US hegemony at the expense of our sovereignty. The MDT was supported by fascist and corrupt regimes, which relied on US support to consolidate political control. This is evident under the current Marcos presidency, which is desperately dependent on US backing to survive public outrage and the political crisis triggered by massive corruption linked to debt and infrastructure spending. Marcos is also colluding with his US patrons for the intensified sell-out of the country’s critical minerals and other land resources through the Pax Silica, which would lead to the establishment of an industrial hub intended to boost the needs of the US military.

Bayan calls on all Filipinos to honor our heroes who fought for the country’s independence by rejecting US militarism and demanding the urgent abrogation of the MDT. Upholding the MDT is a grave insult to our freedom fighters. Let us carry forward the struggle for genuine freedom, democracy, and peace.

Abrogate the Mutual Defense Treaty!
! !
No to US war and plunder!
!

01/09/2026

30/08/2026

🕯️🌺 Surface the Disappeared! Hold the Fascist State Accountable!
📢 Statement of the ILPS in Collaboration with the ILPS Commission on Peoples’ Rights (Commission 3)

🔸 Read the full statement: https://peoplesstruggle.org/en/surface-the-disappeared-hold-the-fascist-state-accountable/

🌐 Visit the Global Day of Action page: https://peoplesstruggle.org/en/dod-26/

On this Day of the Disappeared, the ILPS stands alongside families, human rights defenders, and grassroots movements struggling to find those who have been forcefully disappeared.

Enforced disappearances exemplify fascism–a violent mechanism imperialist powers and their client states use to maintain control amidst devastating crisis and rising popular resistance to their rule. The struggle against enforced disappearances is inseparable from the struggle against imperialism, fascism, and all forms of class exploitation.

Only through collective resistance, truth-seeking, and solidarity can we end enforced disappearances and build a world founded on dignity, justice, and genuine freedom.