US-based progressives welcome Marcos Jr.’s failed UN Security Council bid

“Marcos is an embarrassment to the Filipino people, a traitor to us.”

TORONTO – Filipino progressives in the United States celebrated Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s failed bid for a non-permanent member seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling it a people’s victory.

Kyrgyzstan won the Asia-Pacific seat, defeating the Philippines after four rounds of voting.

They stressed that the fight continues as they call for justice for Toboso 19 or the April 19 massacre in Negros that killed community organizers, journalist, and peasant rights advocates including two Filipino-American citizens Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem.

Protest actions were held at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza outside the United Nations in New York City, Philippine Consulates in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. 

No UNSC seats for fascists

At an online speak-out hosted by Malaya Movement USA on June 4, groups said that the outcome of the UN Security Council (UNSC) vote showed that countries around the world recognize the corruption, repression, and violence associated with the Marcos regime in the Philippines.

“Marcos is an embarrassment to the Filipino people, a traitor to us,” said Andan Bonifacio, chairperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-USA. 

Bonifacio said that Marcos continued what he described as the Dutertes’ bloody legacy of violence against the people.

“Some of the biggest examples of his betrayal of the Filipino people are his surrender of Philippine sovereignty to the United States, the highest bidder. Whether it was the expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites or, more recently, his giving 1,600 hectares to the US for free, all of that culminated in the [UNSC] loss,” Bonifacio said.

For Bonifacio, the Philippine government’s failure to secure a non-permanent seat in the UNSC is a victory but the fight is not yet over. “We still haven’t gotten full justice for the Negros 19. We have migrants who are still in detention.”

“Marcos is a fascist, he’s a traitor to his people and he’s a complete puppet to a very dangerous world superpower that people are opposing left and right,” Bonifacio said.

Josie Pingkihan of Migrante International said that Marcos has not made any meaningful contribution to addressing the plight of migrant workers. (AMU, DAA) 

Photo courtesy of Malaya Movement USA

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