International Institute for Research and Education - Manila

11/08/2026

READ from Alternative Viewpoint:
< 74. India’s Gen Z revolt, the crumbling of merit and the limits of Modi’s hegemony >

In the afternoon of 25 July 2026, Dharmendra Pradhan posted his resignation letter to X. Hours later, after a third round of talks with Union ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh, spokespersons for the Cockroach Janta Party announced that the government had conceded the movement’s remaining demands, compensation of ₹10 million for the families of students who took their own lives after the NEET cancellation, and an assurance that no cases would be pursued against those who marched on 20 July.

No Union minister in Narendra Modi’s tenure had been forced out by a street movement before. Not during the anti-CAA mobilisation, which the state answered with the Delhi pogrom and a decade of UAPA prosecutions. Not during the wrestlers’ protest. The farmers won a full repeal in 2021 and that remains the largest material defeat the regime has suffered, but they did not take a minister’s head, and they had behind them the organised weight of Punjab’s peasantry, decades of union structure and a year of encampment. The Cockroach Janta Party had none of that. It was two months old, with no membership rolls, no registration, no treasury, no cadre and no ideology beyond, in its own words, satire. That is the fact that requires explanation. Not the resignation, which was a tactical retreat, but the conditions under which a joke acquired the power to extract one.

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On the afternoon of 25 July 2026, Dharmendra Pradhan posted his resignation letter to X. Hours later, after a third round of talks with Union ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh, spokespersons for the Cockroach Janta Party announced that the government had conceded the movement's remaining deman...

11/08/2026

08/08/2026

JUST IN: A resolution opposing all large-scale metallic mining on Sibuyan Island was approved by the Romblon Provincial Board, Friday, after weeks of anti-mining protests were launched by residents denouncing Altai Philippines Mining Corporation’s mining activities in the island.

Up to 42 hectares of the island were reportedly going to be used by Altai Philippines Mining, cutting into sensitive ecosystems in the island, including the Mt. Guiting-Guiting Range Natural Park.

The resolution urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Congress to declare the island as a large-scale mining-free zone while also calling for Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna to review and revoke all existing mining agreements, operations, and applications within the island.

While the resolution itself will not be enough to stop the operations of Altai Philippines Mining, it is a continuation of a years-long anti-mining struggle in the island. In 2023, Sibuyan residents erected a human barricade in protest of Altai Philippines Mining Corporation’s planned mining activities on the island.

08/08/2026

The People's SONA
Focus on the Global South July 2026 Dispatch

People’s SONA Mobilization, 29 July 2026 By Venus de Vera, Wesley Elizalde and Julianna Roldan* Every fourth Monday of July, Commonwealth Avenue becomes the country's second State of the Nation Address. While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prepares to speak before Congress, thousands of workers, f...

08/08/2026

Pakistan's GMO Deregulation: From Seed Sovereignty to Corporate Capture
By: Qammar Abbas

Islamabad is calling it science, efficiency, and investment facilitation. Set against three decades of agricultural liberalisation, it looks more like the next handover of what this country grows, and who gets paid for it, to a handful of multinational corporations. Pakistan's decision to loosen...

04/08/2026

India’s Cockroach Youth – A New Insecure Class in Struggle Jobless

"In July 2026, India’s education minister resigned under pressure from a protest movement that began as a joke. When the Chief Justice of India compared the country’s unemployed graduates to cockroaches, a viral platform of the same name gathered millions of followers within days; when a medical entrance exam was leaked for the seventieth time in seven years, that online satire became a march on Parliament. Sankha Subhra Biswas situates the episode within India’s peculiar economic conjuncture: headline GDP growth above 7 percent alongside graduate unemployment near 29 percent, and collapsing placement rates even at the country’s most selective engineering and management institutes. He argues that the protest exposes a widening crack in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral coalition, built since the 1990s on an urban and credentialed middle class whose material comfort has underwritten decades of communal politics. Once that material floor gives way, communal consolation stops compensating for anything. Leaderless and disruptive, the movement lacks the organisational bridge to India’s larger informal workforce, whose jobless growth has never been a discovery but a lifelong condition. Whether India’s left builds that bridge will decide whether this was a beginning or a dead end." [AN]

In July 2026, India's education minister resigned under pressure from a protest movement that began as a joke. When the Chief Justice of India (…)

03/08/2026

DAGHANG SALAMAT! PADAYON!

Quezon City, Philippines — Time flew faster than expected as the 14th Asian Regional School (ARS) came to a successful close on July 29, 2026. The 21-day residential program (July 9–29) served as an intensive space for radical discourse, strategic exchange, and internationalist solidarity, deepening collective analysis across movements in the Global South and beyond.

This year’s ARS brought together twenty-one (21) activists and progressive leaders representing a broad spectrum of grassroots and militants - including social movements, trade unions, youth and student groups, feminist collectives, climate justice advocates, Indigenous Peoples' organizations, and political parties from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, and across the Philippines, bringing crucial local perspectives to regional struggles.

Guiding these discussions were seventeen (17) distinguished lecturers and resource persons. Alongside experts from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, international perspectives were enriched by contributions from comrades in The Netherlands, Japan, France, and Hong Kong.

Beyond formal discussions, dedicated spaces for country and organizational reports, cultural exchanges featuring local cuisine, and relaxed karaoke sessions helped deepen bonds of comradeship. Outside the conference halls, delegates also organized group excursions to explore historical landmarks of the host country.

We are grateful to the participating organizations and representatives, to the Resource Persons, to International Institute for Research and Education (IIRE-Amsterdam), Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (ESSF), Focus on the Global South, Partido Manggagawa (PM), Kilusang Maralita sa Kanayunan (KILOS KA), Solidarity for Peace, Equity and Lifelong Learning (SPELL), and those unmentioned organizations and individuals for the enduring commitment and unwavering solidarity and partnerships.

We are also profoundly grateful to the grassroots organizations and agroecological farmers from Eastern, Western, and Northwestern Mindanao. By generously sharing their harvests of rice, fruits, and vegetables, and locally made wine, they nourished the ARS throughout the 21 days.

We would like to express also our gratitude to the urban poor communities of Parola and Isla Puting Bato in Metro Manila. Thank you for warmly opening your doors and sharing your stories of resilience, community organizing, and defense of human rights amid systemic exploitations and oppression.

Heartfelt thanks go to our tireless kitchen and logistics team. Your daily care, hard work, and long hours kept the school running smoothly and comfortably.

In a heart-warming act of comradeship before departing, volunteers and participants from the southern regions of the Philippines organized to renovate and revitalize IIRE-Manila's front receiving area, leaving behind a refreshed space for future activities.

We appreciate the individuals and organizations who donated books and critical reading materials, further enriching our collective library and preserving institutional memory.

Looking ahead, participants identified key opportunities for solidarity activities, including ecosocialist exchanges between countries, regional networking, and targeted meetings to connect with other groups across Asia.

To those who have shared financial and logistical supports in the country and abroad, thank you very much.

Let’s get ready for the 15th ARS! VENCEREMOS!

IIRE-Ph Team
August 2, 2026

02/08/2026

International participants of the 14th ARS have safely returned home. As we look forward to next year's ARS, IIRE-Ph volunteers from the southern part of the country completed renovations on our center's receiving area before their departure.

Thank you very much!

01/08/2026

One, by Two, by Three, and all were gone...
14th ARS participants on their way home with strengthened resolve and commitment for the oppressed and the exploited.

01/08/2026

Autonomous Region in Mindanao Human Rights group calls for a free from external interference Indigenous Peoples process in selecting Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Parliament 2 Reserved Seats.

REITERATING OUR CALL FOR A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC BARMM REGIONAL PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS!
HANDS-OFF THE NMIP RESERVED SEATS IN THE BANGSAMORO PARLIAMENT!

The campaign period for the historical first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Regional Parliamentary Elections scheduled for September 14, 2026, is officially underway. Following multiple election postponements, these polls represent a monumental step toward establishing a genuine democratic mandate for the region's leadership.

However, even prior to the formal start of the campaign, our communities have witnessed escalating tensions, a heavy deployment of government forces, and intense political mudslinging on the ground.

We, the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao, firmly joins all groups and agencies calling for a peaceful, democratic, and clean electoral process.

Most urgently, we strongly demand regarding the two (2) reserved parliamentary seats allocated to Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs).

OUR DEMANDS

> Respect Customary Laws and Indigenous Political Structures (IPS)

Under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, Bangsamoro Indigenous Peoples Act, and the implementing rules set by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MIPA) and COMELEC , the selection for the NMIP reserved seats must strictly adhere to the traditional processes and customary laws of the indigenous communities. These seats must be determined solely through Tribal Assemblies and the Regional Inter-Tribal Convention of recognized Indigenous Political Structures—not through party manipulation or political bargaining.

> No External Political Interference and

We call on all regional, provincial, and national political parties, government offices, politicians, and civic organizations: Stop meddling in the NMIP selection process. Do not bring division, confusion, and political manipulation into traditional tribal governance.

> Safeguard Democratic Space

We urge the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs (MIPA), and all concerned security and government agencies to actively defend a free, secure, and uncoerced space for indigenous leaders to exercise their customary consensus-building.

Lastly, to the NMIPs and the grassroots tripeople, strengthen the unity and solidarity.

LEAVE THE NMIP RESERVED SEATS TO THE INDIGENOUS POLITICAL STRUCTURES! HANDS-OFF NMIPs!

ALYANSA NG MGA MAMAMAYAN PARA SA KARAPATANG PANTAO (AMKP)
July 31, 2026