Panday Sining Malate - Optik

Panday Sining Malate - Optik Art through a new lens! Make new media serve the people— Join Panday Sining OPTIK! The cultural NDMO within Benilde's School of New Media Arts.

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Another month opens with no accountability from those in power.This June 1st various progressive groups marched to the S...
01/06/2026

Another month opens with no accountability from those in power.

This June 1st various progressive groups marched to the Senate of the Philippines' office as the already extended deadline for Vice President Sara Duterte to answer her 2nd impeachment case reached its last day. The cases filed against her include betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and high crimes. These are not crimes that can be done by a single individual alone, and factionalism wars within our government today— as it did September and in the years prior—as they scramble to protect their own gains and the rotten system that serves their own long-term interests.

This is particularly true with long-term Duterte ally, Senator, and former Philippine National Police chief Bato dela Rosa. In November last year, Bato dela Rosa was issued an arrest warrant by the ICC for committing the crime against humanity of murder during Former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, during which Bato served as Duterte's right hand man. Since November, Senator Bato dela Rosa had been in hiding for six months before his sudden reappearance in the Senate hall on May 11, reestablishing the Duterte's hold on the Senate with the installment of Alan Peter Cayetano. On the same day, May 11, the House of Representatives sent Sara Duterte's impeachment case to Senate.

Amidst all these power plays, the actual 99% of the people continue to suffer amidst continued economic crisis from increasing oil, gas, and electricity costs, record high inflation, and rising unemployment rates.

As legality is turned flexible when applied to the criminals in our government and justice continues to be delayed, Panday Sining Optik calls on all artists of the new media to help tell the stories of the 99% and expose the crimes of the 1%. The bureaucrat-capitalists who scramble to cover up their crimes should have nowhere else to turn. It's up to us to organize and mobilize in the thousands in order to bring these politicians to justice!

Join Panday Sining Optik - https://bit.ly/JoinPSOptik



Hinihingi nila, pinagkait nila sa masa. May 26, 2026, would have been Kian Lloyd De Los Santos’ 26th birthday.On the nig...
26/05/2026

Hinihingi nila, pinagkait nila sa masa.

May 26, 2026, would have been Kian Lloyd De Los Santos’ 26th birthday.

On the night of August 16, 2017, Kian was stopped and searched by three police officers on his way home. When the policemen failed to find any evidence of drugs, Kian was forced to hold a gun covered by a towel and to raise his shirt over his face as the policemen began to beat him.

One witness heard Kian shout, “Tama na po, may exam pa ako bukas!"

He was later dragged into a dark alley near a river where he was shot multiple times by two of the officers.

This was the type of violence that characterized Rodrigo Duterte and Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s infamous War on Drugs.

Extra-judicial killings, planted evidence, state perpetuated violence and killings were so prevalent that academics and human rights organizations estimate the number of victims to be around 12,000 to 30,000, with a majority being from urban-poor communities.

Children weren't spared either. Human rights organizations documented around 122 minors, some as young as three, as victims of Duterte's "drug war."

“Sh*t happens," was what then PNP Chief Bato Dela Rosa said when 3 year old Myka Ulpina was shot and killed during a buy-bust operation in Rizal.

After almost a decade of stalled justice, Rodrigo Duterte currently awaits trial at the Hague while Bato Dela Rosa evades his warrant of arrest from the International Crime Court (ICC) and Vice President Sara Duterte awaits her impeachment hearing at the Senate. As their crimes against the Filipino people dog at their heels, they cry for the very same thing they took from Kian and the thousands of victims they left on the streets bloody and lifeless: due process, human rights, and justice.

Yet even after such a bloody campaign the conditions that pushed people to take drugs to combat hunger pangs; to stay awake during long back-to-back shifts; or turn to drug pushing have only worsened as job opportunities remain scarce and inflation accelerates to 7.2%. Aside from his various human rights violations, Duterte’s TRAIN Law has continued to be a particular burden to the Filipino people, increasing excise taxes for diesel, kerosene, and gasoline. Marcos Jr.’s temporarily suspension of the excise tax on kerosene only reflects the unwillingness for real structural change within the current regime.

Building upon the Duterte era’s culture of violence, rampant militarization and fascism has only become more widespread and violent under President Bongbong Marcos Jr.

We as a nation must hold them accountable and prove once and for all that no one is above the law.

18/05/2026

ICYMI | Students at UP Dilliman staged a walkout last May 5 in honor of slain UPD student Alyssa Alano. Alyssa was one of 19 victims of an aerial strafing operation conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 303rd Infantry Bridgade in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Other victims include journalist RJ Ledesma, peasant organizers Errol Wendel and Maureel Keil Santuyo, as well as Filipino-Americans Kai Sorem and Lyle Prijoles.

The walkout served as a lead up to a tribute ceremony for Alyssa. During the ceremony, friends, family, and those Alyssa made a mark on in life paid tribute to her as a friend, daughter, sister, student, and activist. Whether to a friend in distress or a jeepney driver on strike, clear throughout all accounts was a militant kindness—one that called her away from the four walls of the classroom and out into the countryside, where our farmers, peasants, and indigenous peoples experience widespread militarization, land-grabbing, and fascistic violence for the monopoly interests of a handful of landlord families. It was this violence by the US-Marcos regime that killed Alyssa Alano at 22 years old and displaced over 168 families.

To honor her dedication in understanding the experiences of the Philippine majority—those in the coutnryside, particularly our farmers—the ceremony came to a close with Alyssa honored as summa cm laude. Despite the unjust end of both her life and education, there is no doubt of the richness in knowledge she carried with her, one built through her willingness to immerse with the basic masses.

13/05/2026

MARCOS PATALSAKIN!
DUTERTE PANAGUTIN
BATO ARESTUHIN!

QC WELCOME ROTUNDA

ENOUGH IS ENOUGHWhile the Marcos and Duterte political feud have been clowning around turning our government into a circ...
13/05/2026

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

While the Marcos and Duterte political feud have been clowning around turning our government into a circus for years, millions and millions of Filipinos have struggled under this glass regime from the endless crises, state brutality and corruption.

Join us today at 8:30 at QC Welcome Rotonda. We will make our voices heard through action.

SARA PANAGUTIN
BATO ARESTUHIN!

TO LIVE IN NEGROS IS TO ALSO KNOW DEATHOn April 19 the 79th Infantry Batallion (79th IBPA) of the Armed Forces of the Ph...
10/05/2026

TO LIVE IN NEGROS IS TO ALSO KNOW DEATH

On April 19 the 79th Infantry Batallion (79th IBPA) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) launched a military operation that caused the deaths of 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental and the displacement of 653 individuals. This indiscriminate aerial strafing is one of many manifestations of militarization in our countryside and calls to mind the aerial strafing that greeted the residents of Abra De Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on New Years Day this year and caused the deaths of student-activist Jerlyn Rose Doydora and two Manyan-Iraya children.

Panday Sining Optik completely condemns this consistent pattern of violence against marginalized communities, and those who choose to live and learn alongside them. Rampant militarization in our most poverty-stricken yet fertile grounds is no coincidence, and the violence that results from the unwanted military presence benefits no one but a handful of land-owning families and private companies.

As such, Panday Sining Optik encourages everyone to join tomorrow's tribute at UP Diliman for the 19 people massacred in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Despite the unjust and untimely killing of the Toboso 19 by the AFP, the fight for justice continues to live on within us.

May 11, 2026
UP Theater @ UP Diliman
4pm — Exhibit in the Lobby
5pm-7pm — Program

MARCOS DUTERTE WALANG PINAGIBA!IMPEACH SARA DUTERTE!MAY 11, 20269:30 AM @ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SOUTH GATEBenildeans...
10/05/2026

MARCOS DUTERTE WALANG PINAGIBA!
IMPEACH SARA DUTERTE!

MAY 11, 2026
9:30 AM @ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SOUTH GATE

Benildeans stand against corruption! Join the mobilization tomorrow at the House of Representatives, to demand that legal action be taken against Sara Duterte for the millions of public funds she embezzled from our pockets. From the bribery of DepEd officials amounting to P112.5 million to the P500 million in the Office of the Vice President, the amount of misused confidential funds by Sara Duterte is estimated to amount to P612.5 million.

While innocent members of the Benildean Community have been wrongfully accused and persecuted by the state, the Queen of Corruption has long evaded impeachment and litigation, as her claws have dug deep into this machinery we call justice. By taking a stand, we Benildeans show that bribery and embezzlement has no place in our government, that justice will prevail and that Sara Duterte will pay for her crimes.



ICYMI | On May 4th, the first day of the term, Benildean students conducted a candle-lighting protest alongside Panday S...
08/05/2026

ICYMI | On May 4th, the first day of the term, Benildean students conducted a candle-lighting protest alongside Panday Sining Optik and other national democratic youth organizations. The protest was held in silence to honor the 19 people massacred by the Armed Forces of the Philippines's (AFP) 79th Infantry Battalion in Toboso, Negros Occidental, as well as the arbitrary arrest of Charlize "Ceeka" Garzon. The 19 victims included youth activists such as UPD student-leader Alyssa Alano, peasant organizers Errol Wendel and Maureen Keil Santuyo, as well as journalist RJ Ledesma and Filipino-Americans Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem.

The protest was held despite intimidation and attempts of repression by the administration. 2 student-volunteers were called to the Center for Restorative Discipline (CRD) for handing out flyers and informing other students about the peaceful candle-lighting protest. They were made to file a report and now face uncertainty about their academic standing. This is consistent with past attempts by the Benilde administration in suppressing student voices—best seen in the weak presence of the Benilde Student Government (BESG) and the institution's silence on their students' struggles under increasing fascism. Particular is AB-Film student Aldrin Kitsune's subpoena and BA-Arts Management alumna Ceeka Garzon's arbitrary arrest.

Ceeka Garzon's arrest comes after an encounter between the New People's Army (NPA) and the AFP's 68th Infantry Battalion in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. Ceeka Garzon was in the area doing cultural research with the Mangyan-Buhid and was hastily labeled as an NPA rebel. Not long after Ceeka's arrest, in a pattern consistent with the AFP's disregard for human rights, was the massacre of 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental. From Negros to Mindoro, and within our very own institutions in Manila, there is a rising need for students to stand against the US-Marcos regime's increasingly mask-off fascism.

DEFEND NEGROS!
DEFEND MINDORO!
FREE CEEKA GARZON!
JUSTICE FOR THE TOBOSO 19!
BENILDEANS FOR GENUINE STUPDENT REPRESENTATION!

08/05/2026

Human rights are fundamental freedoms and protections that belong to every person, yet many violations continue to happen across the Philippines. Issues such as extrajudicial killings, red-tagging, illegal arrests and detention, attacks on journalists and activists, enforced disappearances, labor exploitation, online harassment, and restrictions on freedom of expression remain major concerns raised by various human rights organizations.

Among the many human rights concerns in the Philippines, one of the most alarming incidents was the killing of the “Negros 19” during coordinated police and military operations in Negros Island. The victims included student activists, peasant advocates, community organizers, and civilians, with reports from human rights groups pointing to excessive force, unlawful raids, and violations of due process. The incident drew national and international attention as organizations called for accountability, justice, and protection for human rights defenders, journalists, and marginalized communities.

The continuing militarization in both Negros Island and Mindoro has also raised serious concerns among residents and advocacy groups. Communities have reported increased military presence, strafing, bombings, surveillance, red-tagging, and intimidation, particularly in rural areas where farmers, labor organizers, youth leaders, and activists continue to campaign for land rights, fair wages, and social justice.

Why do these youth leaders really have to be in these rural areas? The best question would be what is happening in these provinces?

📆 Date and Time: May 8 3-5PM
📍 Hybrid Set-Up
✍️ DM to register

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