Pro-democracy protesters in the Philippines yesterday marked the anniversary of the 1986 army-backed “people power” revolt with the son of the dictator ousted in that uprising now leading the country.
About 1,400 demonstrators, some waving Philippine flags and holding placards that read: “Never forget,” gathered at a democracy shrine along the main Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in metropolitan Manila.
Leftist activists, carrying an effigy that depicted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr as a pest, protested separately at a nearby pro-democracy monument.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Faced with the awkward situation of issuing a statement to mark the revolt that toppled his namesake father, Marcos Jr called for reconciliation without citing the event as a democratic milestone, as his predecessors had done.
“I once again offer my hand of reconciliation to those with different political persuasions to come together as one in forging a better society — one that will pursue progress and peace and a better life for all Filipinos,” he wrote in a two-paragraph statement posted on Facebook.
Renato Reyes of the leftist alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the president’s offer was a “good sound bite, but lacks sincerity and substance” given Marcos Jr’s refusal to acknowledge abuses under his father’s rule.
Photo: Reuters
Millions of Filipinos in February 1986 converged at the highway to shield top military and defense officials who defected from Marcos’ administration. The ailing president, who imposed martial rule from 1972 to 1981, was driven with his family and cronies into US exile.
The uprising became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes, but in the nearly four decades since then, poverty, stark inequality between the rich and poor and a failure to address past wrongdoings have remained deeply entrenched, fanning political and social divisions.
The Marcoses returned to the Philippines in 1991 and gradually regained political power.
In May last year, Marcos Jr won the presidential race in a landslide victory in one of history’s most dramatic reversal of fortunes.
“It’s mind-blowing in one sense, isn’t it? How did this happen? You remember those who sacrificed their lives and you feel so sad for those who were tortured, those who lost loved ones,” said Judy Taguiwalo, a longtime former political detainee and torture survivor.
Now 73 and ailing, Taguiwalo said her generation of activists who fought the dictatorship was slowly fading, but she remained defiant.
“There’s a new generation of fighters,” she said. “Tyranny can return, but there’s no forever in tyranny so long as we don’t stop resisting, even if it’s an uphill battle or we get sidetracked by disinformation.”
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS