People’s State of the Nation Address protest at the Philippines embassy

Washington, D.C. – On July 27, around 100 people mobilized in front of the Philippines’ embassy to give their annual People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) and to expose the true relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines.

The march started from Stead Park as organizers were handing out fliers to passersby and constructing a large effigy of President Donald Trump, President Bong Bong Marcos Jr., and Ambassador of the Philippines to the U.S. Jose Manuel del Gallego Romualdez. The effigy stood tall and exemplified the relationship between the three individuals.

Trump stood front and center sporting devil horns, Marcos at one side held a large bag of pesos symbolizing the upwards of 80% of remittances that the Filipino government takes from migrant workers in the U.S., and Romualdez at the other side holding up a bloodied peace sign. The effigy was constructed by over 40 people and was placed at the head of the march to the Embassy of the Philippines.

Once the group reached the embassy, they took over the streets and began their program. Next to the effigy were three people satirically dressed up as Trump, Marcos Jr., and Romualdez, with Trump carrying leashes connected to the other two’s necks.

A member of Anakbayan DC spoke on a recent campaign stating, “Iris is a local youth activist who traveled to Los Angeles to attend the Kalayaan Summit, which successfully gathered the largest convening of Filipinos this country has ever seen. Despite being able to travel to LA, on the way back home, there were complications with TSA and getting a confirmed ID. Iris was not allowed by TSA to travel back home. Without a clear way home, Iris requested help from the LA consulate. She asked for help with notarization, access to Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds, and also travel documents. However, the Filipino consulate of LA denied this request, saying they only give ATN funds to migrants in distress. But we know that this is one of the many falsehoods that the Filipino government uses to hoard funds that never make it to the Filipino masses.”

During the speech, an SUV broke through the marshal security line and sped through the protest, though no one was struck or hurt. The police and Secret Service were present; however, they did nothing.

A member from Bayan DMV spoke about their experience trying to give a letter to the embassy right before the mobilization, stating, “This letter detailed the conditions of hundreds of Filipino seafarers that are currently being targeted and detained by ICE and CBP. We were simply there to demand that the government provide assistance, and do you know what they did? They gave us the runaround. They locked the doors on us. They told us that we need to have an appointment, that we need to email, that we need to call, and these are things we’ve done time and time again. The consulate ignored us, rejected us, and they called us ‘insincere,’ but they have exposed themselves for not caring about our kababayan. They even barred one of our members from entering the consulate for five years; simply because we demand they do their jobs.” After the speech were calls from the crowd for Ambassador Romualdez to “do your job or step down!”

Rob Cheng, a member of About Face: Veterans Against the War told the crowd, “Did the U.S. military actions in Venezuela and the blockade of Cuba, did that make the people of Latin America safer? When the U.S. worked with Israel to launch their illegal war against the sovereign people of Iran, did that make the Middle East any safer?” The crowd responded “No!” in unison. Cheng continued, “So why do we kid ourselves thinking the U.S. having military bases in the Philippines, Japan and South Korea makes the people of Asia any safer?” He ended his speech with a rallying cry, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”

The program ended with the crowd fervently destroying the “three-headed beast” effigy of Trump, Marcos Jr. and Romualdez.

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