Philippine Street Artists Arrested for Anti-Government Graffiti in Manila

Four members of the Philippine street art collective Panday Sining were detained by police during a political rally near Manila's LRT 2 Recto Station after spraying anti-government messages on walls. The artists, identified as Jeanne Vaughn Quijano, 24; Joven Laura, 24; Mikhail Collado, 18; and an unnamed minor, used slogans in Filipino referencing nineteenth-century revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio and protesting Executive Order No. 70, a 2019 law introduced by President Rodrigo Duterte that grants the government broad authority to prosecute critics. Panday Sining, founded in 1970 during the First Quarter Storm period of civil unrest, claimed on Facebook that its members were 'bullied, manhandled, thrown in jail' in what they described as a 'fascist assault.' This incident follows the October arrests of members from Teatro Obrero in Escalante City, who alleged police planted weapons on them, and intimidation of other drama collectives like Bungkal and Bansiwag, indicating a trend of artistic repression. Manila mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso, a former actor, stated to the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the group had been warned previously for 'vandalism' and must now face legal consequences. The graffiti included phrases such as 'Abolish de facto martial law' and 'What is the leader's answer to martial law,' targeting Duterte's policies aimed at quashing communist insurgency but criticized for enabling prosecution of opposition voices.