Dungo, Ice Russel G.

September 15, 2021

Gr. 11 – STEM POPE GREGORY Quiz 1 - Introduction to 21st Century Philippine Literature

“21ST Century Literature the Face of Today”

Collateral Damage by DLS Pineda depicts the “War on drugs” campaign by the government. It
mirrors the common events and beliefs that has happened during the campaign such as, the corruption
of policemen and the risks of being a peddler or pusher. Collateral Damage is a form fiction, yet it does
not fail to show facts that currently happening in the society.

It starts with our main protagonist, a man who grew in the slums, talking of how the slums is
calling him back and describing his place, the slums of Binangonan. Then, he continues to shows how
ignorant the Manileños to what are happening in the slums to the point that no one recognize
Binangonan and mistaken it for another country. Then, it progress to the main character talking about
his as a drug addict, and how he continues to be silent about knowing that it won’t be safe for his family
and him. Later on, the narrator (protagonist) mentions the Drug war, where the ones he grew up with
are participating by working for the government as foot soldiers, policemen, staffers, clerks and etc. At
this point, the narrator shows the judicial killings of the policemen, and then shows of how the system
of the peddlers. At the end, the narrator concluded that there be no one left to kill in his hometown, and
soon they will came after his father, and next his him.

The text shows corruption in the government. The government knows that they are powerful,
and could easily cover their tracts with money and influence. Furthermore, they know that slums are the
easiest targets as no one knows nothing about the slums, like the girl the protagonist is dating, and
therefore do their operations there.

The text exemplifies social movement. The author is fighting the corruption of the government
by showing it through flash fiction. However, the author writes it in a different way than in past
literature, by being creative and close to reality. The author shows detail of every possible things
affected by the corruption and campaign.

In conclusion, the text “Collateral Damage” by DLS Pineda shows the social movement of
fighting against corruption of the government. The text shows clear details about the events presented
in the “War of Drugs Campaign”.