National-democratic groups led by the New Patriotic Alliance (Bayan) staged a protest in Pasay City on July 22 to condemn the attendance of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center. Police blocked and dispersed the demonstrators, attempting to arrest several individuals, including members of the media.

Rubio was in the Philippines from July 19 to 23 for an official visit and talks with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Bayan said Rubio’s arrival was unacceptable to Filipinos because he is an agent of imperialist aggression and terrorism. The group called him a “war criminal.”

“As the chief foreign policy architect of the fascist Trump regime, Rubio is among the most accountable for the human rights atrocities and blatant violation of national sovereignty and international law brought about by US imperialist intervention and aggression,” Bayan said.

The group added that Rubio’s meeting with Philippine government officials pushed the country deeper into serving as a launchpad for US imperialist war in the Asia Pacific. It said this would also speed up the US-backed “economic security zone” under the Pax Silica initiative, which will plunder the environment, displace Aeta and peasant communities, and cause other adverse impacts.

Bayan emphasized that Rubio’s arrival in the Philippines symbolizes the country’s worsening violation of national sovereignty, greater plunder of natural resources, more displacement of communities, and intensifying political repression.

Violent dispersal, attempted arrests

Police attempted to disperse the protest just outside the Aliw Theater near the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex. They also tried to arrest several mass leaders and journalists. Several rallyists were injured when police shoved them.

Among those targeted for arrest was Amirah Lidasan, a Moro leader of the Moro-Christian Peoples Alliance and a former senatorial candidate. Lidasan said she believed police targeted her because she is a Muslim wearing a hijab, calling the action discriminatory.

Meanwhile, the PNP Pasay City illegally detained Bulatlat alternative media journalist Jian Sanz. As a pretext, police claimed they “rescued” the journalist from the crowded protest.

Police also tried to arrest photojournalists Bullit Marquez and Renato Dilan, which they later called an “honest mistake” or an unintentional error. Marquez said he was blocked and nearly arrested while photographing the attempted detention of Lidasan.

Media organizations widely condemned the actions against the journalists. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines denounced the police treatment of the media and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.