Stop the Marcos Family legacy of lies and abuse of Filipino money!
Malaya Movement USA condemns Marcos Jr.’s state visit to the United States, President Biden’s hypocritical reception of him, and the use of the Filipino people’s money to fund an overpriced tour with an entourage of at least a dozen amid serious economic decline in the Philippines.
The Ritz Carlton, St. Regis Hotel, Fiola Mare - it’s unfathomable for a head of state to shamelessly spend public money on luxuries unnecessary for this supposedly diplomatic trip. The Marcos entourage can comfortably drop public money on a $7,500 hotel suite or a restaurant with $200 caviar, while the average family surrounding Malacañang Palace is forced to make do with an average $10.28 (P570) a day. An average Filipino’s daily earnings in the Philippines’ National Capital Region can afford about a single $9 croissant at Fiola Mare.
In the first year of his term, Marcos Jr. has jetsetted around the world even as unemployment hit a conservative estimate of 4.8%, inflation is at its highest in 14 years, and his administration continues the Philippines’ de facto policy of preserving labor laws that only allow unstable and contractual work. Marcos Jr. is acutely aware that his attempts to encourage foreign investment in the Philippines will only benefit the upper echelons of the Philippine population, leaving the 70% of Filipino households living a hand-to-mouth existence with no alternatives and making the shaky middle class even more frail.
Moreover, it is deeply worrying that President Biden has failed to look at his own record of standing up for human rights and democracy in the Philippines as he “welcomes back” Marcos Jr. to the White House, noting that the last time he was here was during his dictator father’s state visit with Pres. Reagan in the 1980s.
As a Senator in the days before the People Power Uprising that ousted Marcos Sr., Biden was quoted saying, “There is strong bipartisan consensus in the Congress that the recent elections in the Philippines were not free and fair. Widespread fraud, intimidation and violence were perpetrated by Ferdinand Marcos and his supporters”. Like deja vu, these same circumstances shrouds Marcos Jr.’s elections as noted in independent reports , yet President Biden is silent both about the former dictator’s legacy and Marcos Jr.’s professed mission to clean up his father’s bloody name.
The uncritical support from the U.S. regime for the Marcoses is a direct affront to the Filipino people and to thousands of Filipino-Americans who’ve asked the US to take a firm stance on human rights in the Philippines through the passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act.
We applaud the Filipino community in Washington DC and nearby states for speaking out and opposing Marcos Jr. at every turn during this state visit. We, in the Malaya Movement USA, reiterate that Marcos is not welcome here!
Donate to legal defense funds: bit.ly/nomarcosvisit
Attend the bayan usa & migrante usa teach-in & speakout 5/3: tinyurl.com/may3teachin
Join the mobilizations in DC: linktr.ee/phnot4sale
Take a selfie holding a sign saying why you condemn Marcos Jr.’s visit to the US
Become a member of Malaya Movement USA: bit.ly/joinmalaya
