Apr 29

Apr 29 Bongbong Marcos

Chicago, Demonstrations, Public Declarations, Protest

Following the May Day celebration in Union Park, a number of demonstrators headed to the Office of the Consulate General of the Philippines, located across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago. The objective: To show extreme dissatisfaction with the rule of Philippines President Bongbong Marcos.

The group was led by students from the University of Illinois at Chicago, who were quire passionate about their cause and mission. Among the groups represented were Anakbayan Chicago, Malaya Chicago, and the Chicago Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, It was heartening to see a number of demonstrators from the Union Park demonstration earlier in the day mixed in with the protesters, including someone from the SDS chapter at UIC. I also recall seeing at least one or two people wearing Chicago Teachers Union red t-shirts. In total, there were no more than 25 or 30 demonstrators, but I wasn’t expecting more given the demonstrators’ focus on a foreign policy issue that is not grabbing headlines daily.

For those without a scorecard, Marcos is the son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (best known for her closets full of shoes)—Marcos, Sr. held the presidency from 1965 to 1986. The demonstrators claim that he was behind 3,257 killings, sanctioned the torture of 35,000 people, wrongly incarcerated 70,000 others, and stole $30 billion from the country.

Bongbong Marcos succeeded President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2022. Like Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., Duterte was a strongman who sanctioned extrajudicial killings and abused other civil liberties. He was best known for advocating the murder of drug users as a means to solve the drug problem.

According to the demonstrations, Bongbong Marcos is following in the footsteps of his father and Duterte. I asked whether the killings of drug dealers and users has abated since Marcos took over the presidency. The response: President Marcos’s record on civil liberties is worse than Duterte’s, which is hard to imagine given the reports that were coming out of the Philippines during Duterte’s rule, including Duterte’s own admissions, which took the form of braggadocio. President Marcos is also accused of self-enrichment at the expense of the country.

The demonstrators also focused on inflation in the Philippines, referring several times over the course of the day to the price of onions.

The event precipitating the demonstration is Monday’s White House meeting between Presidents Biden and Marcos. The demonstrators believe that Marcos is selling “Philippine sovereignty in exchange for deals that will enrich him and his cronies.” While objecting to extrajudicial killings and the curtailment of other civil liberties should not spark much controversy, the Biden-Macros meeting warrants a more nuanced examination.

For people who believe the United States is seeking worldwide hegemony, demonstrating against Monday’s meeting makes perfect sense. After all, the topics up for discussion include: (i) new U.S. military bases in the Philippines—the demonstrators claim there are five new ones, while I have seen references to only four; (ii) the agenda for the upcoming meeting in Detroit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where trade, environmental, and other policies will be discussed; and (iii) joint U.S.-Philippine military exercises.

If the demonstrators’ claims about President Marcos are accurate, President Biden undoubtedly knows that he is dealing with an autocratic strongman. Other U.S. presidents have faced similar dilemmas. Marcos may not be a good person, but he is in charge of a country that could serve as a bulwark against Chinese expansionism in the Pacific. Taiwan is an obvious Chinese target, making the Philippines a strategic location for U.S. military bases. The Philippines northernmost island is less than 100 miles from Taiwan, according to an article in the New York Times.

While Biden, together with the public, have been focused on headline issues such as inflation, gun control, and the debt limit, Biden’s portfolio runs much deeper. Over the last several months he has been engaged in diplomacy, including hosting White House visits by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Those allies are also concerned about Chinese expansionism, particularly because it is happening in their backyards. Both countries are also concerned about North Korea’s continued belligerence, particularly as encapsulated in its nuclear and missile development programs. The Chinese have done little to rein in their North Korean ally.

Given his diplomatic efforts, Biden apparently has decided to overlook President Macros transgressions against his own people, preferring to take actions and develop alliances that serve the United States’ strategic position vis-a-vis China. The demonstrators outside the Office of the Consulate General late this afternoon struck a different balance. They can certainly point to a long history of U.S. entanglements with strongmen, which may be alluring in the moment, but which often prove counterproductive in the long-term. The Shah of Iran, Fulgencio Batista of Cuba, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and even Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. all come to mind.

If criticized, Biden would argue that he is engaging in classic realpolitik, which basically means elevating one geo-strategic objective over what many view as more laudable humanistic ones. If a few eggs must be broken, so be it—at least that is how Biden and others strike the balance. Where anyone comes out on today’s demonstration depends largely on how they view respective interests of the United States and China.

The lesson I take away from today’s demonstration is quite simple: As a passerby or a spectator, I appreciate protesters who highlight issues as they demonstrate for change, but after the rally, it is necessary to do some reading to assure that all conflicting viewpoints are taken into account. Despite that cautionary note, I am always heartened to see college students and other asserting their First Amendment rights.

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