In the quiet hours before dawn on August 7, five empty coffins appeared across Metro Manila's sprawling districts, each bearing political slogans against China and the Communist Party of the Philippines — a coordinated, anonymous act that used the symbolism of death to deliver a message no one has yet claimed. The Philippine National Police, recognizing the theatrical precision of the deployment, moved swiftly to treat it not as protest but as provocation, reminding the city that even political speech carries consequences when it is designed to alarm rather than persuade. In a metropolis long