(Updated; June 30; 3:18 p.m.) Several Filipinos took to the colorful streets of Times Square in New York to protest against president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr‘s inauguration in their homeland.
Images and clips of the scenes were uploaded on Twitter where the rallyists can be seen chanting and rejecting the incoming Marcos-Duterte administration.
Duterte refers to Marcos’ running mate in the 2022 national elections, vice president-elect Sara Duterte.
Some were shared by ABS-CBN reporter Don Tagala.
HAPPENING NOW: Progressive anti-Marcos activist groups take to streets of Times Square in New York City to reject the incoming Marcos-Duterte administration. #InaugurationDayProtest pic.twitter.com/pkTtRAcj4z
— DON TAGALA (@dontagala) June 29, 2022
Twitter user @datainput also shared a thread of the happenings which showed protesters chanting, “Never again, never again!”
NE Coalition to Advance Genuine Democracy in the Philippines
Justice & Accountability for the Filipino People
Reject Marcos-Duterte!Times Square, Manhattan, New York City, 7:53pm, Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Instagram: anakbayanmanhattan
h/t @protest_nyc#nyc nycTHREAD
1/ pic.twitter.com/MpfWM43m3H— DataInput (@datainput) June 30, 2022
The user cited Anakbayan Manhattan, which previously invited Filipinos to “join the Northeast Coalition to Advance Genuine Democracy in the Philippines” to reject the incoming administration.
“We must continue the fight for genuine democracy in the Philippines against tyranny and demand justice and accountability for the Filipino People. Reject Marcos-Duterte!” part of the group’s Instagram post read.
The protest was organized by the Northeast Coalition for Genuine Democracy in the Philippines.
Lora Nicolas-Olaes of the Young Global Filipinos for Democracy, one of the initial conveners of the coalition, said that they will “not relent in the fight” for the Marcos and Duterte families “to answer for their crimes.”
She cited the Marcoses’ “deliberate, decades-long campaign to rewrite history, the widespread cheating, vote buying, and irregularities in the elections and the Marcos and Duterte families tactics of red-tagging human rights activists and opposition forces to try to silence” dissent.
Danica Pagulayan of Anakbayan-USA said that the incoming administration also represents “the worst of Philippine patronage politics” and “they will stop at nothing to maintain their power and access to public coffers.”
Raphael Agosto-Miranda of the International League of People’s Struggle added that they are also rejecting US President Joe Biden‘s show of support to the new administration.
“We reject the U.S. sending a delegation to the inaugural ceremony. We reject that the administration was congratulating Marcos as votes were still being counted! We know that the U.S. seeks to use the Philippines in its ongoing rivalry with China for hegemony in the region,” he said.
Based on their agenda, they will march to the Philippine Consulate General in New York after converging in Times Square.
Marcos will be inducted into the Office of the President for a six-year term at noon on June 30. The inauguration is being held at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila.
