Last August 2024, Keri tagahabi (psychosocial accompaniments) were invited by an environmental defense organization to Bataan to facilitate a 2-day community psychosocial debriefing to a fisherfolk community defending themselves from on-going demolitions and police harassment. They also recently suffered from intense rains and a waterspout that damaged several of their homes. Mothers, young defenders, and children joined our Paglalayag (freedom voyage).
Due to the repressive environment, the Paglalayag focused on narrating and communicating emotions and needs from the community members and establishing spaces of psychosocial safety. There were two separate journeys occurring simultaneously, for the mothers and for the children, with similar activities that incorporate story-telling, movement, and expressive arts. Apart from creating a space for different emotions and reclaming personal and collective narratives of trauma, there was also a centering about the sociopolitical context of environmental protection and political dynasties, their human rights, and the importance of continued defense (e.g. barricades).
We focused on individual, family-level, and community-level care support in nourishing collective strength for their continued struggle.
One of the most moving moments during our deployment was listening to the hopes and aspirations of children. They mentioned wanting to return to their peaceful day-to-day lives, to focus on schoolwork or friendships; and many also voiced how much they wanted to protect their homes and their parents (who were involved in barricades) after witnessing them being damaged or harmed by the violent dispersals of police. Even children as young as 7 years old committed to protecting their homes. Unfortunately, the escalation of violence perpetrated by local government authorities such as the police led to several children experiencing traumatic symptoms, such as intense fears of loud noises or fear of any police or armed person.
Mothers also shared similar hopes of wanting to return to their "quiet and simple lives", after residing there for decades or generations already, their only demand was to be left alone to continue with their livelihood and ordinary living. They mentioned wanting to restore and repair the trust they have among each other a community, as some of the "armed men" who were violently dispersing them and demolitioning homes were also neighbors who wore masks to hide their identities. There is a feeling of betrayal and anger towards these neighbors who they felt were bought by money by the perpetrators. They voiced frustration that these masked neighbors failed to realize how all of them, eventually, will be forcibly displaced from the area, and that they should instead be working together to resist.
For them, protesting, joining the mobilizations and barricades, as well as seeing their youth and children also contribute to the defense, contributes to a shared sense of individual and collective resilience. Of course they acknowledge the worry and the fear given the real risks and threats they have and continue to experience. There are constant internal struggles of vacating or leaving instead of staying, however, they are given no dignified alternatives. Their memories, cultural connection to land, and livelihood relied on their coastal community.
