Batang gangster: A documentary on the young delinquents of Tondo

• Main Authors: Baruelo, Alberto B., III, Quirante, Ma. Carissa Ama
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Gangs > Philippines; Juvenile delinquents > Philippines; Street children > Philippines > Social conditions; Documentary films; Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5172
• Institution: De La Salle University

Batang gangster is a thirty-minute documentary film that features a Tondo-based youth gang called Bad Guys. Coming from communities that live below poverty line, and mostly from broken homes, these youngsters resort to the streets wherein they seek belongingness, care, support, love and even opportunities for financial gains. The film shows the gang's embodiment of camaraderie, kapatiran and true friendship. The concept of kapatiran is known to be the primary moral code of the youth gangs. This principle of brotherhood may challenge the gang members to go beyond their limits to the extent of even defying the law (e.g. engaging in crimes of violence and theft) just so they could provide their brothers/sisters with protection in times of trouble or financial help in times of need.With the youth's quest for security outside their homes, they experiment with the unknown and the dangerous, unthinkingly jeopardizing their future, freedom and even their own lives.