Pasismo Biguin! Resist the Marcos-Duterte Regime!
One year in: Human Rights, Democracy, Sovereignty in danger under Marcos Jr.
On July 24, Marcos Jr. will give his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) flanked by over 25,000 police officers in Quezon City. Like his previous SONA and many of his speeches since he took office last year, Marcos Jr. will no doubt skirt the real issues the people are facing, in favor of making empty proclamations and detrimental promises.
In his first year, Marcos Jr. has done nothing to address the issues of the everyday Filipino, especially amidst the worsening economic crisis. He has instead continued to erode the Philippines’ sovereignty and to crack down on the democratic rights of the people.
Economic despair
During Marcos Jr’s first year, Filipinos saw the highest inflation rates, increasing cost of goods, and more unemployment the Philippines has seen in decades. Onions, notably, hit Php 700 or $12.80 per kilogram. With the average daily wage across all regions at Php 395.67 or $6.70, the impacts of the increasing costs of goods has become ever more apparent. In the National Capital Region (NCR), the daily minimum wage was increased by Php 40 or $0.73. The last time there was a nationally legislated wage increase was 1989 according to the IBON foundation, and adjusted for inflation. The meager hike 34 years ago has little spending power.
Instead of increasing wages, ending contractualization, or providing ayuda (aid) to the Filipino people, Marcos Jr. continues to push for sham corrupted policies like the controversial Maharlika Wealth Fund. Since then, Marcos Jr. deemed the bill as urgent and rammed it through Congress, leaving its implementation in the hands of corrupt cronies.
Sovereignty at risk
Marcos Jr. has made it a hallmark of his administration's priorities to jeopardize the sovereignty of the Philippines through the pursuance of unequal agreements and policies, notably the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). EDCA allows the United States to use the Philippines as a military staging ground for its operations in the Pacific, all the while rendering the Philippines vulnerable and trapped in between warring superpowers China and the US.
Charter Change is a growing threat even just in the first few months of Marcos Jr. 's presidency, with supporters falsely and maliciously claiming that changing the Constitution would help solve the problems of the Philippines. Not only is Marcos Jr's government rewriting history, it wants to rewrite the Constitution to eliminate term limits for elected officials and to allow for 100% foreign ownership of business on Philippine soil. This is a grim replay of his father Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship, wherein absent term limits and regulation of businesses cultivated corruption and put public money and unmitigated power in the Marcos family’s pockets.
Justice & Accountability
The culture of impunity and widespread political repression continues under Marcos Jr. So far, 21 peasants have been murdered, countless activists arrested, and a recent spate of disappearances hearken back to the days of Martial Law under Marcos Sr. Quietly, Marcos Jr has pursued the war on drugs, with 342 reported killings as of June.
We’ve also seen the targeted attacks against press outlets and organizations. Freedom of speech is at the mercy fascist National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), currently co-led by Vice President Sara Duterte, who have used their bloated budget to terrorize progressive outlets and individuals, like the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Northern Dispatch (NorDis), and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and the 4 activists from the Cordillera People’s Alliance, who were recently placed on the “terrorist list”.
This makes sense as to why Marcos Jr. would vehemently block the International Criminal Court from pursuing an investigation into crimes of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. To keep allowing his government’s reign of terror, Marcos Jr. follows in Duterte’s footsteps to uphold and protect a culture of impunity.
The People’s Resistance
Given the dismal state of affairs under Marcos Jr. there is also no shortage of resistance. People from various backgrounds advocating for a number of issues continue to organize themselves in order to highlight the negligence and violence of the Marcos Jr. government. The nationwide Transport Strike that protested the ruinous jeepney phaseout program persisted for months. Protests erupted against the expansion of the EDCA and the largest Balikatan Exercises with the United States. Even the fraudulent elections continue to be a point of resistance with the ongoing Mandamus petition to review and investigate the tampering of the 2022 Philippine elections.
Outside of the Philippines, Filipinos in the US are not exempt from shouldering the economic crisis exacerbated by the Marcos Jr. regime. Due to the consistent trend of high inflation rates this past year, the value of remittances has declined making the already vulnerable migrant community susceptible to harsher working conditions abroad. Even extensions of the Philippine state like the Philippines Consulates across the nation have done little to nothing to support Filipinos in the US.
In spite of all the violence inflicted by the Marcos regime, the people have remained steadfast in their efforts to resist the fascist regime. Join Malaya USA in our efforts to hold People’s State of the Nation Address actions across the country to expose the real situation under Marcos Jr. 's illegitimate rule. We must highlight the real state of the nation and expose Marcos Jr. for his failures and inadequacies as the President, and uplift the people’s demands for genuine democracy, human rights, and sovereignty in the Philippines.
