A-Infos (en) Declaration by the Local Autonomous Network on the Alleged Repression of Anarchists in the Philippines By ANA (pt) [machine translation]

The Local Autonomous Network (LAN) is a fluid network of individuals and collectives composed of anarchist, anti-authoritarian and 
autonomous activists here in the Archipelago called the Philippines. Since the early 2000s, people in the network have been in contact with 
each other consistently, regardless of whether they are from the south or north of the Archipelago. The network has its own level of 
knowledge and trust in the other, which comes from the rigid process of organization, carrying out campaigns and initiating different 
activities and projects. ---- We heard about the report published onlineby groups abroad about anti-anarchist repression in the Philippines. 
The report entitled "The Philippines - The continuing crack down on anarchists" (The Philippines - The continuing crack down on anarchists) 
was first published by the Anarchist Communist Group (ACG), based in the United Kingdom, and then copied and distributed to others. 
international anarchist pages. Most of the people involved in the Local Autonomous Network had the same reaction to the report: "this is 
alarming". As it is a local matter, we decided to investigate and do our own research locally on what the real situation of anarchists in 
the field was.

In the given context, it is true that the Duterte regime is an oppressive and repressive government, even more so than the other presidents 
in previous regimes. The Drug War that Duterte started in 2016 and which has been waged since then has killed approximately 30,000 people, 
that is a fact. Some of the victims of extrajudicial killings in the Drug War were drug personalities, but hundreds of victims of 
extrajudicial killings were not even connected to any kind of drug related issue. Ongoing crimes and murders are also carried out against 
leftists, dissidents, peasant leaders, community organizers, and other activists. Anarchists in the Philippines were not spared, and in 2018 
volunteers from Food Not Bombs (Food Yes Bombs No) were murdered and arrested. (See post¹ "The war on drugs in the Philippines: four Food 
Not Bombs volunteers murdered, one is in prison").

This is a subject that we are close to, and our comrades who were arrested on that occasion have already been released. The Local Autonomous 
Network has been an active part of the campaign against the War on Drugs and the atrocities committed by the State since September 2016. We 
carry out events, protest actions, publishing zines, and other initiatives against these mass murders.

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte's authoritarian regime treats the current crisis as if it were at war, and implements police 
and military checkpoints instead of reinforcing people's medical and health needs. It is true that in this confinement, people have 
suffered, especially the poor and marginalized urban sectors. The government is not really prepared to deal with the health crisis. Instead 
of helping and supporting those who have lost their jobs, the government is making more efforts to control the movement of people without 
clear plans for how they will survive. For example, government financial assistance is delayed and some people are taking to the streets to 
beg for food.

Now, based on our investigations into the report on the repression of anarchists and murders in the Philippines, we have not been able to 
confirm the details behind "Philippines - Continued repression of anarchists". The details in the report seem unreliable. We have come to 
the conclusion that it is fake news and not a truth in itself. This according to people who know the writers of the material. The people who 
wrote it have no connection to the Local Autonomous Network, nor any involvement in anarchist projects or initiatives. We tried to make 
contact with them and talk to clarify things, with the intention of doing solidarity actions, but they were on the defensive. We also found 
that before this report was made, there were several letters of appeal from these individuals asking for financial support from people abroad.

As anarchists in the Archipelago, we are not currently the target of the state. As far as we know, the State is largely unaware of our 
organization. We are very cautious and well planned in promoting anarchist advertising. We do not want anarchism committed to this untrue 
report that this non-affiliated group sent. The anarchist network here is very small and we know each other very well; with our current 
internet technology, we can find out if there was an incident against our comrades in the field. That said, we have heard nothing about what 
allegedly happened in Cebu, and we learned of it from anarchist pages abroad who published or shared this false report. We know that the 
state here is targeting dissidents, but not because they are anarchists.

The Local Autonomous Network then requires news agencies to delete the fake report immediately from all of its websites, blogs, and Twitter 
or Facebook pages. This is for the safety and protection of anarchists in the Archipelago. This report commits the anarchist network in the 
Archipelago to the alarming title and the written lies.

We look forward to the cooperation of our international comrades on this issue.

For news and updates, see the various collectives that are part of the Autonomous Local Network:

* BandilangItim:bandilangitim.noblogs.org&

twitter.com/BandilangItimPH

* Etniko Bandido Infoshop:

etnikobandidoinfoshop.wordpress.com&

facebook.com/ebinfoshop

* Safehouse Infoshop:facebook.com/safehouse.infoshop

* Onsite Infoshop:onsiteinfoshopphilippines.wordpress.com

* Feralcrust:feralcrust.noblogs.org/ &

facebook.com/feralcrustinfoshop

* Pirate Studio Space:facebook.com/piratestudiospace

* FlyingHouse / Ncspace / Tarima:

facebook.com/flyinghouse2013

Local Autonomous Network, May 14, 2020.

[1] 
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2018/10/25/a-guerra-erca-as-drogas-nas-filipinas-quatro-voluntarios-do-food-not-bombs-assassinados-um 
-this-stuck / )

Translation> Sid Sobral

anarchist news agency-ana
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