Activists in SF, LA, NY slam Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address

Filipino activists and allies from across the Northeast US gathered in front of the Philippine Consulate in New York rally. (MARION AGUAS)

Filipino activists in the United States raised their voices in front of Philippine Consulates General in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York on the occasion of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address in the Philippines.

In San Francisco, while chanting “The people united will never be defeated!”, rallyists listened to the speakers who took turns bashing the administration of President (BBM) Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sarah Duterte.

Protesters shut down Sutter Street on Monday, July 24 to demand the full release of $22 million Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds for overseas Filipinos and reject increased surveillance by the national and local governments amid heightening economic hardship and state neglect.

They slammed President Marcos Jr. for allegedly obscuring over 80 extrajudicial killings, worsening workplace conditions, union busting and unequal trade agreements with the U.S. and China in his first year in office.

Land defender and Indigenous peoples advocate Brandon Lee spoke of an attempt on his life allegedly by Philippine state forces almost three years ago. Philippine Consul General Neil Ferrer allegedly refused to have a sit-down meeting to review the status of the investigation into the attack that nearly killed Lee.

Banners and signs at the Equity Building which houses the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles. CONTRIBUTED

Lee also touched on the alleged human rights violations against peasants, land defenders, activists, and indigenous communities by the Armed Forces and the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and paramilitary forces.

Bayan Northern California regional coordinator Abbey Irodistan told activists, “Go to workplaces — in the hospitals, fast food industry, care homes. Fight for them, serve them, we have to give them the hope that they are capable of changing the state of the nation!”

In the crowd was Ann, not her real name, who has been in the U.S. for 16 years, intimated, “I had the fortune of going to the U.S.  but my heart remains in the Philippines even if I am here,” Ann intimated.

“I observed and heard from the SONA of President BBM walang ginawa kundi magbiyahe, dumada, mangako na napako (he does nothing but travel and make speeches) and whatever infrastructure projects and improvements are only for their loyalists who are already rich. His speech is full of lies with claims of good things that have supposedly have happened. I ask every Filipino to use their vote to choose the right persons to lead our country.”

Benjie Pineda, a student activist in the 1970s when Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was president and when Martial Law was declared, said “BBM and family” are trying to revise history to portray their father as a very benevolent leader.

Pineda brought along his newly-arrived young nephew, Julian Colmenares, also a nephew of former Philippine Congressman Neri Comenares. Pineda feels good the rallies in a far place like the U.S. continue, saying protesters “are ardent students of history.”

San Francisco rally with banners started at the Philippine Consulate and culminated at the Union Square. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum

“My uncle tells me that there are always three Ks in fighting for issues – Korte it takes time to have cases in court resolved, Kongreso where they are always outnumbered ,and last K is the most important where our voices can be heard, Kalsada (streets).”

In Los Angeles, activists and their allies rallied with banners and signs at the Equity Building which houses the Philippine Consulate General on July 23. Their signs read, “No To Marcos Sell Out at APEC,” “Bumangon, Magkaisa, at Itakwil ang Rehimeng US-Marcos”, “Rise up, Unite, and Reject the US-Marcos Regime, End the Oppression of the Filipino People.”

Many Filipino migrant workers attended the protest, named the People’s State of the Nation Address. Supporters of the protest criticized the Philippine government’s prioritization of profit over its people’s needs in various Philippine and international economic trade agreements.

In New York, approximately 100 Filipinos, community members and allies from across the Northeast US gathered in front of the Philippine Consulate in New York for the People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) to condemn Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.’s first year in office and his inability to meet the needs of poor and working Filipinos.