Philippines elections stirs new activism in the Filipino American community

ASIAN WEEKLY

Filipino Americans in Seattle protest the Philippines elections.

A march here, a demonstration there, a letter to the editor, a call to a member of Congress, an email or text to the White House. There are signs of a growing protest against the Philippines' president-elect, Bongbong Marcos, the son of the despot that ruled over the Philippines for two decades.

Remarkably, through a social media campaign that would make Donald Trump jealous with envy, a decades-long miseducation of a generation of Filipino students and a scattered and unorganized opposition, Bongbong Marcos is the apparent landslide winner of the Philippine Presidential elections held May 9.

Filipino Americans, most of whom are first- and second-generation immigrants and who have maintained close dies with family in the Philippines, are beginning to organize against the coming regime of the Marcos scion that officially takes office June 30.

The Marcos campaign used and abused social media in a country that is the most-plugged in country in the world. For example, there were 88 400 000 Facebook users in Philippines in February 2021, according to Facebook.That translates to over 77.7% of the Philippines entire population is on the social media platform, making them a ready target for hours and hours of misinformation generated by an army of influencers.

The pro-Marcos disinformation campaigns manipulating domestic public opinion using social media platforms “are emblematic of what every democracy around the world is facing — the global, existential problem of whether democracy can survive the assault of tech,” said Maria Ressa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning editor-in-chief of the online news service.

In Los Angeles where the greatest number of Filipino American live, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns and Migrante released this statement:

"The integrity of the 2022 election is questionable. We denounce the lack of preparation and hold the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Smartmatic, and F2 Logistics liable for widespread vote counting machine failures. These machine failures, along with irregularities such as people receiving their Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) ballots late and more 13,000 ballots being returned to their senders, make visible the attempt of disenfranchisement and have robbed our kababayan of the opportunity to contribute to the change they want to see. Let us continue to be vigilant and hold the new administration accountable to an effective response to the many crises we are facing."

The International Commission on Human Rights - Philippines sent 60 observers from 11 countries to the watch the Philippines elections firsthand. Although the final report will be released June 28, two days before Bongbong Marcos' inauguration. The interim report released last month found that through witness testimony and evidence-gathering, the observers documented widespread failure of the electronic voting system, vote buying, red-tagging of all opposition campaigns, and acts of violence against certain partylists and their supporters.

Already, a resolution dubbed the Philippines Human Rights Act, has been introduced to Congress, by Rep. Susan Wild, D-PA. The bill, H.R. 3884, urges the U.S. government "to suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military and police forces, and for other purposes." Sponsors fear that Marcos, Jr. will reinforce the brutal strongman rule of President Rolando Duterte. 

REDDIT

The Never Forget Contingent in New York City marched against the Philippine elections results.

A report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that, even counting conservatively, at least 8,663 people had been killed under Duterte's so-called war on drugs. With fertile ground established by Duterte, it is easy to see the path Bongbong could use as an excuse to return the policies that made his father, Dictator Ferdinand Marcos, one of the most corrupt and richest dictatorships in the world.

To reassure the continuance of the Duterte rule for the next six years and perhaps beyond, his tough-talking daughter and Mayor of Davao City, Sara Duterte was elected Vice President.

The House resolution language outlines the human rights abuses that have taken place during the Duterte regime, including the extrajudicial  executions of alleged drug dealers and the assassinations of environmental activists, journalists, clergy, labor leaders and rival politicians.

The Ukraine War and COVID-19 has dominated the U.S. news so coverage of the protests in the Philippines since the questionable election results have not garnered much attention except by Filipino Americans.

Realizing that the U.S. is the biggest and most influential trading partner of the Philippines, anti-Bongbong campaigns are organizing and gaining momenturm, not only in the Philippines but also in North America. in those areas where great numbers of Filipino Americans. They are taking their demonstrations to the streets of San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu, New York City and Toronto  and in the halls of lawmakers in city halls, state capitols and Washington D.C. 

The results of the Philippines election threatens to fracture the Filipino American community. Since the dictatorship, the Philippine embassies and consulates have made inroads with Filipino immigrants in North America by using its resources to support and encourage their community events, especially the celebration of Philippine independence. And there is a segment of the Filipino diaspora who will support the Philippine government, no matter who is president.

Veterans of the anti-Marcos campaign in the U.S, now in their 60s and 70s, are passing on the lessons they learned to a new generation of politically astute students and community advocates to organize for human rights in the Philippines, for their families and communities remaining in the Philippines.

“The election of Bongbong Marcos and Sarah Duterte…is a major setback for democracy and economic development in the country.” said Cindy Domingo, sister of labor leader Silme Domingo an anti-Marcos activist, who along with Gene Viernes, was assassinated in Seattle by Marcos thugs.

“As the sister of Silme Domingo…the outcome of the Philippine elections has been a most traumatizing event for my large extended family," she told Asian Weekly.

“Learning about the Philippines is a gateway to learning about everything and everything,” said Dr. Joy Sales, an assistant professor of Asian American Studies at CSU Los Angeles.

“It can help us understand not just why Filipinos are in the U.S., but also where the U.S. is placed in the world. It’s about this community that has deep transnational connections to the homeland, which is probably very relatable to other diasporas of color. … People’s lives are at stake here,” she told CapRadio.

“The best thing we can do is to stay vigilant, be vocal, be supportive, and pass the U.S. House Resolution (HR) 3884 that is intended to suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military and police forces,” said Maria Batayola of the Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington in an interview with Asian Weekly.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Broadway performers sing the Tagalog version of "Do You Hear the 

People Sing" from th Les Misrable  musical which has become an

anthem to people challenging the status squo.