Philippine Studies Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints
© Ateneo de Manila University
66, NO. 4 (2018) 481–516
In early February 1971, students at UP Diliman erected barricades,
fought off the military, and briefly established the “Diliman Commune.”
Using material produced by the “communards” themselves, along with
contemporary press reports, I reconstruct the dramatic narrative of the
commune and debunk two prominent myths: that it was a spontaneous
uprising and that it was an isolated event. The commune was a part of a
widely coordinated set of barricades raised by the radical groups Kabataang
Makabayan (KM) and Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan (SDK) in
service, in the final analysis, to the political interests of their ruling class
allies in an election year.
KEYWORDS: DILIMAN COMMUNE • UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES • ANARCHISM •
STALINISM • MARCOS PRESIDENCY
A Planned and
Coordinated Anarchy
The Barricades
of 1971 and the
“Diliman Commune”
JOSEPH SCALICE