Violence Begins Long Before a Trigger is Pulled

The recent school shooting in Tacloban City has shocked the nation and reopened urgent discussions about the state of Filipino youth. In the aftermath, various political actors have offered explanations for the tragedy. Among them, Kabataan Partylist Representative Renee Co argued that a “culture of impunity” associated with former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration may have contributed to the normalization of violence among young people.

In casually blaming one individual for this so-called "culture of impunity," Rep. Co reduces a complex phenomenon of youth violence to a simplistic political narrative while overlooking her own organization's historical entanglement with armed violence.

As former rebels, we know that violence begins long before someone pulls a trigger. It is normalized slowly, in language, in identity, in anger, in the way young people are taught to see others not as fellow human beings, but as enemies who deserve punishment.

None of us joined the armed struggle believing we were choosing violence for violence’s sake. Many of us entered with idealism and wanted justice. We wanted dignity for the poor and a society where children did not inherit the suffering of their parents. But little by little, we were taught that armed violence could be morally justified if the cause was declared noble enough.

That is why the Tacloban tragedy demands serious analysis examines multiple, interconnected factors, such as the deterioration of family support systems, the growing mental health crisis among young people, exposure to violent content online, cyberbullying, social isolation, substance abuse, peer pressure, economic insecurity, and the weakening of community institutions that traditionally guided and nurtured the youth. Not just “culture of impunity.” 

Indeed, many societies around the world, regardless of who sits in power or what political ideology prevails, are experiencing rising levels of youth anxiety, alienation, and violence. School shootings, gang violence, and youth delinquency are global phenomena that cannot simply be traced to the statements of one political leader or another.

The danger of shallow political (and clickbait) explanations is that they divert attention from the difficult but necessary work of building stronger families, improving access to mental health services, strengthening schools, and restoring meaningful community engagement.

This is also why Congresswoman Renee Co is hardly the best person to point a blaming finger at who or what is responsible for the normalization of violence among children and youth.

Facts 

The fact is, she has consistently refused to denounce the atrocities and violence of the CPP-NPA-NDFP. She has refused to confront the reality of recruitment in schools and universities, and choose instead to hide behind the blanket accusation of “red-tagging.” She has also refused to reject, or even just be alarmed by, the fact that many members of her partylist and its allied organizations have been recruited into the armed struggle and later died in encounters as NPA fighters.

She cannot credibly speak against the normalization of violence while remaining silent when violence is romanticized as “revolution.”

Former rebels recognize this pattern because many of us once walked through it ourselves. And we did not wake up one morning realizing we wanted to carry firearms. We were first convinced that society was divided only between oppressors and the oppressed, that there is systemic injustice which cannot be resolved through mere reforms, that compromise was betrayal, and that armed struggle was the highest form of service to the people.

Looking back, we realize that we were taught that dialogue is weakness, that enemies are not human, that suffering and the deterioration of families are necessary for a greater cause, and that noble intentions can excuse destructive methods.

This is why peace education, civic engagement, and genuine critical thinking (not just the posturing of the national democratic organizations) must be strengthened in schools and communities. We do not want the youth to reject political participation. On the contrary, we need them to become active citizens because that is essential in a democracy. But participation must be informed, critical, independent, and rooted in respect for life.

Young people should engage in organizations that genuinely promote democratic dialogue, peace-building, community service, and constructive social change. They must also carefully examine any group that teaches hatred, glorifies martyrdom, justifies clandestine activity, or treats violence as a legitimate path to transformation, without being labeled as “fascist” or “red-tagger” or “traitor.”

The youth are shaped by families, schools, communities, culture, economic realities, and increasingly, for better or worse, by the digital world. But they are also shaped by the movements, organizations, and narratives that compete for their anger, loyalty, and sense of purpose.

If Rep. Co is truly concerned about the future of Filipino youth, her response must move beyond propaganda and partisan narratives. She must listen to them, especially those who have first hand experience of radicalization and violent extremism. 

Former rebels know that violence cannot be defeated simply by condemning it after tragedy strikes. It must be prevented much earlier, before anger becomes identity, before ideology becomes a cage. And before a young person is made to believe that violence is the price of change or the highest form of serving the people.