December 11, 2024
Over 50 activists and members of progressive Filipino organizations affiliated with BAYAN Canada braved the rain to hold a protest action in front of the US consulate in downtown Toronto yesterday, December 10th, to honor International Human Rights Day. They were joined by Canada’s Philippine Solidarity Organization and the CPC-ML.
Protesters brandished placards and slogans that said, “US Troops Out of PH Now!” Marcos, Singilin, and Duterte Panagutin! Human rights violations in the Philippines have continued to escalate during the Marcos Jr. rule, with an increase in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances of activists, rights advocates, farmers, and labor leaders. Meanwhile, socioeconomic factors such as poor pay, job contractualization, and landlessness among peasants and farmers, which are a known driving force behind Filipino migration, go unresolved.
The protest action in front of the US consulate also aimed to highlight and expose the increasing presence of US military personnel, including the recent signing of military agreements such as the Trilateral Agreement between Japan, the Philippines, and the United States, as well as the General Security of Military Information Agreement, which was recently concocted by the Philippine defense minister and his US counterpart in November. The United States has leveraged the ongoing maritime dispute between the Philippines and China to advance its own military interests in the region. Pres. Marcos Jr.’s persistent support for the commencement of joint military exercises in the Philippines, notably in the West Philippine Sea, fuels friction and raises the prospect of war with China.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines has urged the Canadian government to be critical of its own policies, including a review of the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOFVA) being negotiated with the Philippine government. These policies, which are ostensibly aimed at strengthening regional security, risk being interpreted as support for regimes accused of human rights violations. ###