What the #CardboardJustice movement looks like offline

"Mag-isa lang ako, but I know there's a movement."

Days after her original posts went viral, 19-year-old sociology student Adrienne Onday's #cardboardjustice photos have inspired other people to take the protest against extrajudicial killings offline.

The idea, which Onday credits to her friend and biology professor Hope Swann, is simple: Wear a sign that says "Lahat tayo posibleng maging pusher" in public.

Her actions have drawn praise and criticism on social media, but Onday says she has encountered more positive responses on the streets.

On Sunday, GMA News Online followed Onday and observed the reactions of people to the sign she was wearing. The trip started at LRT-2, switching to LRT-1 before taking a short jeep ride to Intramuros. Onday arrived in shorts and a frilly white top, over which she had the sign that went viral on social media: "Lahat Tayo Posibleng Drug Pusher."

The guards at the LRT-2 paid little attention to the cardboard over Onday's clothes and aside from prolonged stares, there was barely any reaction to the sign. Passengers would read the sign and then look at Onday, who looked young and unimposing.

Some passengers were more curious than others. Ivy, who boarded the train two stations away from Recto, did a subtle double take upon entering. During a short interview at Recto, she revealed that she thought that Onday was doing it for a school project and "related it to the new presidency."

"'Di ba nakasulat na 'Lahat Tayo Posibleng Drug Pusher' and maybe... I think nakita na, yes, it's possible," Ivy told GMA News Online.

"Iniisip ko 'yung iba ba nag-dru-drug pusher ba sila kasi they really want to use drugs or other people do it kasi kailangan nila ng pera."

Less passive

By the time Onday reached the entrance of LRT-1, reactions became less passive.

In Onday's original July 13 post, she shared that the guard at LRT-1 had asked her to remove the sign. The same happened on Sunday, with the same guard questioning her about the sign while she was reloading her Beep card.

Within earshot, one guard checking bags at the entrance said, "Sabihan mo siya na bawal sumakay. 'Yan yung sinasabi ko sa iyo, araw-araw niya suot 'yan."

Onday removed the sign and held it by her side as she was going down the stairs to the platform of the LRT-1. Another guard was waiting at the bottom, questioning her about the sign again.

"Pakitanggal po ma'am kasi nakakaoffend po 'yan," this other guard said.

Before boarding the train, Onday stuffed the sign in her backpack and said, "Naiintindihan ko naman that they're fearful [about losing their job]. If anything happens in the LRT, sila 'din 'yung sisihin."

Even if she believes that wearing the sign is legal, she readily complied with the guards' requests. Onday said that aside from altercations, some people might get fired if protests happened in the platform.

"I don't think people know their rights and the responsibilities they have as citizens," she said, lamenting the fact that The Philippine Constitution remains largely unread by the public and untaught to students.

Pedicab comments

Things became even less passive when she reached Intramuros. Pedicab drivers at the terminal were the most vocal about the sign, joking as they tried to convince Onday to avail of their service.

"Pa-salvage ka ni Duterte!" one of them yells out, followed by some laughter. The tone is non-threatening and the implication of death is used as a morbid punchline.

A few more pedestrians (in uniforms) muttered audibly, "Pusher daw, o, pusher!"

Lingering glances far outweighed the cajoling, but the humorous remarks picked up again when Onday reached her destination. At the National Commission for Culture and the Arts building in Intramuros where Onday was attending a writing workshop, she was teased about the notoriety of her sign and the publicity she was getting.

That didn't stop her classmate Rian Magtaan from joining in the fun — he had also begun wearing the sign.

Magtaan, a 18-year-old student attending the same workshop, told GMA News Online that he has been doing it for four days.

"Nagsimula lang 'to kinukwento ni [Onday], sabi niya magsusuot siya. Hindi pa ako sure paano 'to, tapos n'ong nakita kong ginawa niya, nakumbinsi ako," Magtaan said. "Gumagawa na kami [dati] ng mga ways para sabihin na tutol nga kami doon sa mga summary executions and extrajudicial killings."

He said that the offline reactions to his signs have been positive, sometimes even drawing laughter — perhaps similar to the earlier scene with the tricycle drivers.

There is some negative feedback though, one of which was on a bus on his first day with the cardboard.

"Una ko kasing dinala ito sa lansangan, sa bus," he said.

"Sa bus, habang naka-sakay ako doon, may mama na biglang nagsabi na 'Dapat patayin 'yung mga nagdrodroga!' pero hindi ko siya pinapansin kasi [kunyari] naka-headset ako [para] mapakinggan ko 'yung nasa paligid.

"N'ong malapit na akong bumaba, bigla siyang nagtanong ng 'Aktibista ka ba?' pero hindi ko na sinagot."

He echoed Onday's sentiments that most people merely read the sign and stared at him. His family, meanwhile, strongly disagrees with his decision to wear the cardboard.

"Ang sa akin naman, this is my advocacy. Kung ito na 'yung puwede kong maiambag sa lipunan, why not?" he said.

Growing movement?

In the same way that Onday was inspired by Swann, Onday has seemed to convince more people to commuted with a cardboard sign, among them a girl named Meagan Patricia Mateo.

"I just met her yesterday (Saturday) and may pulis daw na nakipag-usap sa kaniya," Onday said. "Sinasabi [sa kaniya na] bakit daw niya ginagawa 'yun.

"'Yung pulis, he wasn't against it. He was just saying na dapat mag-ingat kami, mag-ingat 'yung friend ko na 'yun kasi nga there's a lot of people who could react negatively and who could really harm us."

Onday cited her friend Swann's experience of having her lanyard yanked from her neck while she was walking along Taft Avenue as an example of the most extreme reactions to the sign.

The people joining the movement are aware of the risk, but both Onday and Magtaan are willing to take them if it means keeping the conversation going. The short trip with Onday revealed that although there was an instance of confrontation, there were more quiet glances and distant stares than anything else even as more deaths are reported daily.

On a hopeful note, the vitriol found in the comments section are not reflected offline and the hostility towards the campaigners has been minimal. But perhaps that amount should be reduced to none. —JST, GMA News