Canada Pinoys protest ‘rigged’ elections, return of Marcos dynasty

Canada Pinoys protest ‘rigged’ elections, return of Marcos dynasty

Anakbayan Alberta’s mobilization in front of the Alberta Legislature grounds.
(Photo: L. Luciano)

By Lea Luciano
The Philippine Reporter

Filipinos across Canada called out the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for its negligence and failure to uphold honest and fair elections last May 9, 2022.

Migrant workers, activists, and community organizers rallied in their respective cities to reject the partial and unofficial results from the Comelec and voiced their opposition to the supposed victory of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte.

Filipinos abroad questioned the credibility of Comelec in running the elections where reports of massive fraud, vote-buying, and disenfranchisement of voters occurred.

According to the International Observer Mission Interim Report of the Philippine Elections 2022, “A large number of voters did not get to cast their vote, many found their name was no longer on the voter roll, and many had to trust that election officials would later put their marked ballot paper through a Vote Counting Machine (VCM).”

The threat of another political dynasty and tyrannical leadership sparked outrage among the Filipino youth. In British Columbia, youth organizers from Anakbayan BC, Sulong UBC, Gabriela BC, Migrante BC and Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights organized a mobilization hours after the Philippine elections was held to condemn the blatant cheating that occurred and numerous accounts of election tampering.

“As Filipino youth and student activists in Canada, we resist because we see and feel the worsening conditions of the Filipino masses and understand that it is us who will inherit the future,” said a joint statement of Anakbayan BC and Sulong UBC.

“The Marcos-Duterte tandem will be sure to continue the Duterte regime’s attacks on activists and human rights advocates if they win. We recognize the danger that this represents for our kababayans back home, and we urge those of us overseas to stand up for the people’s right to dissent.”

In Alberta, Anakbayan Alberta led the rally alongside their partner organizations Migrante Alberta, Malaya Canada, United Bicolanos Association- Edmonton, and Edmonton 4 Leni Coalition.

The result of the elections is the product of decades of historical revisionism and massive disinformation campaigns in favour of the Marcoses, the group said.

“We who are willing to act and fight to let the truth and justice prevail, we have to be consistent and constant in our resistance,” said Mila Bongco, convenor for Malaya Canada in Alberta.

“As Filipinos in Canada, we have a role to play in preventing the loss of democracy in the Philippines and ensuring that history and truth are preserved and that real history and personal stories of survivors are not erased.”

Anakbayan Alberta calls on the Filipino youth living in the diaspora to raise their voices in condemning another Marcos-Duterte leadership and urges them to continue fighting for their compatriots back home.

“As migrants and the descendants of migrants, we carry the history and the struggle of our people,” said Alyanna Castro of Anakbayan Alberta.

“The truth is, although many of us view this to be unrelated to our situation here in Alberta, our position in Canada has always been the result of the corrupt system back home.”

Progressive groups in Montreal denounce the return of another political dynasty with the Marcos-Duterte tandem that is notoriously known for human rights violations during martial law, extra-judicial killings, and red-tagging.

The Marcos-Duterte tandem represents a continuation of the Duterte regime’s corruption, greed, and anti-people policies that fill the pockets of the ruling elite at the expense of the broad masses, the group said.

A statement released by Migrante Quebec stated that “The Filipino people, including those of us abroad who left the Philippines to escape martial law, high debt, land grabbing and unemployment under Marcos, will never completely forget how the Marcos family really destroyed the Philippines, nor will we allow their return via a rigged election.