Connection in times of crisis: Finding our common ground against systemic injustice
Sharing some reflections on the need to remember our shared humanity with fellow Filipinos who have suffered injustice for decades, to hold accountable those who perpetuated systemic violence
Note: This may have a different flavor from the usual Liham ng Ugnayan. And while we didn’t create Ugnayan with the intention to “get political”, if there’s a time to really cultivate connection with each other as fellow human beings, as kapwa, it’s now. We hope you’ll read on.
September 21, 2025. It was a day of hope, grief and collective rage in Luneta, EDSA and Mendiola. But the experience of the September 21 rallies was different for different people.
Perhaps for many or most of those we know, we experienced mostly non-violent protests, save for a number of expletives that needed expressing.1
While others were wounded, beaten, shot at, killed or arrested by the police in Mendiola. And while their means of protest may differ from ours, it is no less real or vaild.2
What if we paused to learn from this instead of jumping quickly to judgments and conclusions?
As an introvert myself, I’m taking this moment as a challenge to go outside my comfort zone.
Paano kung makipag-ugnayan tayo hindi lamang sa sari-sarili nating grupo?
Paano kung makipag-ugnayan tayo hindi lamang sa loob ng mga bahay o gusali, pero pati na rin sa kalsada at kung saanman?
Paano kung makipag-ugnayan tayo hindi lamang sa magandang panahon, pero pati sa pagbaha ng mga problema?
In other things
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with what’s happening in the country / world, it can help to ground ourselves with a sense of agency, a sense of community, a slow and patient urgency and trust. I write more about co-creating transformational change on my Substack.
We’re also hosting Designing Ginhawa: Ugnayan at Likhaan, a community conversation on being a creative in the Philippines at the Likha Library at Space63 at Comuna, Makati on September 27 (Saturday) 3-5PM. This space is made possible by our lovely Ugnayan ninang @karalso_. Slots for the gathering are limited, so sign up to join via tinyurl.com/likhalibrarygatherings.
Tuloy ang pakikipag-ugnayan,
Jen Horn | @pagbubuo
One of the rallies’ anthems was Anak na ng Pu! by Morobeats; while Vice Ganda openly expressed much of the rage that many may be too timid or conservative to express.
In their Instagram posts, @misschiefeditor (who quotes photojournalist Ezra Acayan and writer Michael Beltran) and @krishnaariola, among others, have shed light on the need for thinking twice about who we label as saboteurs and thugs, and the danger in othering those who have suffered greater from the systemic corruption and oppression.