Canada Filipinos protest as Duterte hogs airtime at PH Congress

For many cause-oriented groups in Canada, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s penultimate speech does not reflect the “real state of the nation.”

On Sunday July 26, a coalition of BAYAN-Canada, Malaya Movement Canada and the Canadian chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) organized a cross-country day of action ahead of Duterte’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The SONA is an annual event where the Philippine president delivers a report to lawmakers on the state of the country and presents policy reforms and bills that he wants to be prioritised and enacted. It is traditionally held on the fourth Monday of July.

Safety-distanced gatherings were conducted in various cities simultaneously with online discussions. Current restrictions in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus changed the groups conduct mass gatherings. They also wore masks and observed health protocols.

Vancouver-based groups expressed opposition to the “de-facto martial law” in the country and the militarized approach in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sunday rally by Migrante, Gabriela BC and Sulong UBC, was disrupted when staunch Duterte supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte burst in, shouting their loyalty to the Philippines’ president.

In Winnipeg, members of the Filipino community gathered at the steps of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights conveying messages of Duterte’s “tyranny” and “anti-people policies.” In Ottawa, chalk marks were drawn on the ground in front of the Philippine Embassy as the demonstrators chanted.

At Parc MacKenzie King, Montreal’s progressive Filipino organizations held a rally in front of José Rizal monument. Alberta chapters of OFW group Migrante and youth group Anakbayan together with Malaya Movement held an online forum discussing the negative impacts of the US-Duterte fascism to Filipinos.

In Toronto, the scorching weather did not deter rallyists from airing their grievances in a two-hour long program against the President in a demonstration billed as “SONAgKAISA.” With panel boards calling for Duterte’s ouster, several dozen demonstrators converged at “Little Manila” at the intersection of Bathurst St. and Wilson Avenue.

“Today, as our kababayan back home march in the streets and protest to show the true state of the nation, we enjoin you then, our kababayan in Canada, to lend your voices in fighting for a better homeland and in bringing social justice and true peace in the Philippines. There is no safety in silence. We are one with the collective strength of the Filipino people in bringing the US-Duterte regime close to an abrupt end,” said Ed Muyot of the Malaya Movement.

Duterte has been under fire amid controversial issues such as the Anti-Terrorism Law, mandatory PhilHealth premium increase, and lack of comprehensive plan and implementation to address the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted the lives of millions of Filipinos. He has promised to fight the coronavirus with the same tactics the regime puts in the so-called war on drugs, which groups have criticized for extrajudicial killings and violations of human rights since coming into power.

As in most of his usual public address, he has waged a word war against other perceived enemies but his penultimate speech was delivered to a limited audience of allies in Congress and Cabinet officials who have been key in the administration’s pet projects.

At one point, Duterte admitted that he does not understand what he has been reading.

Days prior, on July 16, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation Asia-Pacific Working Group (CCIC APWG) sent a letter addressed to François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs concerning the human rights situation in the Philippines. Twenty-eight (28) organizations signed on, including grassroots organizations, Church, and labour groups recommending the Canadian government to lobby the Government of the Philippines to abolish the Anti-Terror Law, and to publicly support the organizations demanding the repealing of the law.

In a virtual conference, Migrante-Canada also shared stories, sentiments and aspirations of Filipino migrants in Canada as part of the State of Migrants Address. Workers in the province of Alberta, the group noted, complain that they only received only a fraction of the supposedly $200 cash aid program of the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment.

Meanwhile, scores of speeches highlighted the “real state of the nation.” Alliance of progressive groups BAYAN-Canada frowned at the Philippine government’s “kill, steal, and bill” policies. Two more years of absolute government ineptitude and neglect is enough, the group said.

“BAYAN-Canada encourages everyone here, our kababayan and friends, to join us in the struggle for genuine democracy and freedom in our country. We must remember that Filipinos

abroad, as the third largest remittance senders in the world, help keep the Philippine economy afloat,” the group said in a statement. “We therefore have all the right to take part in ensuring accountability from the said administration. Now is the time to speak out against tyranny and rid ourselves of the scourge that is the US-Duterte regime”

“We call on the Canadian government to end all Canadian support to the Duterte government, including financial, socio-economic programming, tactical, logistical and training support, military sales and defense cooperation. The Canadian government can provide leadership in the international community to call the Philippine government to account for widespread and systematic human rights violations, and give substance to its own commitment to global human rights,” it added.