Sandata (Filipino word for "weapon" or "arms") is collaboration between Filipino artists and researchers as a response to our country's growing trend of disinformation and the bloody Philippine Drug War. A British Council-funded study has named the Philippines "Patient Zero" in the global trend of social media-led political disinformation. We believe that by communicating factual data through popular art forms such a hiphop music, our work serves as a bullet in the belly of the beast -- difficult to discredit if the art is good, and doubly difficult to demonize if the music bangs. While the Philippine president called the 27,000+ casualties of the Drug War "collateral damage", we are in the final stages of Project Kolateral, a 15-track music album inspired by real stories of our people's tragedy, struggle, and survival.

Our organization has been invited to speak at an event in UC Berkeley (they will be partially covering our travel expenses and board and lodging) and Harvard, but we want to be able to engage with the broader local audiences in San Francisco and Boston while we are there. We want to share our experiences, stories, and music to your local artists and communities, and learn from them in turn.

Your $1000 will go a very long way for us in terms of engaging with local communities, organizing community performances, and opening new pathways of collaboration and artistic innovation.

We believe the problem of disinformation and its demon child of strongman populism is a growing global problem. As such, communities across various fields must band together and figure out new ways to strike back. By being able to share and listen to experiences across cultures and backgrounds, we can sharpen our weapons and fight back in new and exciting ways.