FILIPINO groups gathered yesterday, July 27, outside the Philippine Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, to stage a “People’s State of the Nation Address” protest, denouncing former President Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing efforts to avoid justice and criticizing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s perceived subservience to the United States and neglect of Filipinos.
“Duterte’s request for house arrest and his lawyers’ repeated attempts to get him out of the ICC detention center in Scheveningen are a sick mockery of the justice system,” said Lean Jimenez, spokesperson for Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Europe (Bayan-Europe).
Jimenez added: “The Filipino people must never forget the blood-stained legacy of Rodrigo Duterte. The Filipino people demand that Duterte stay behind bars and face the full weight of justice.”
Beyond calls for Duterte to remain imprisoned, protesters also lamented what they described as Marcos Jr.’s unfulfilled promises and deference to U.S. interests, including his recent visit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Marcos Jr.’s touted success in ‘negotiating’ a mere 1% tariff reduction on Philippine exports in exchange for granting tariff-free access to U.S. imports is in reality a total economic surrender and a complete and utter failure. This goes hand in hand to Marcos’ subservience to Trump’s political and military agenda by using the country as a launching pad to provoke a hot war with China,” Jimenez added.
Icai Enriquez of Pinay sa Holland-Gabriela highlighted unmet domestic pledges.
“Marcos Jr. promised 20-peso rice, but where is it? He promised ending corruption in government, but where is it? He ran on the promise of ‘sama-sama tayong babangon muli’ but where is it? The majority of Filipinos remain buried in debt, poverty, joblessness and hunger. Marcos Jr.’s slogans are nothing but empty promises,” Enriquez said.
Fig Faeth from Balik/Bayan asserted that the “tide of migration will not stop as long as the Marcos regime continues the decades-long labor export program that sells the Filipino people out as a national resource, and as long as the state of the Philippine nation is one that does not provide for the needs of its people.”
Protesters also raised concerns about proposed anti-migrant policies in the Netherlands. Migrante Netherlands spokesperson Max Moreno specifically voiced alarm over tightening asylum rules that disproportionately affect Filipino migrants.
“Many of us here fled the Philippines because of poverty, violence or persecution and are now being treated as mere milking cows by the Philippine government. We deserve better treatment. We demand protection, not self-deportation. Jobs and justice in the Philippines, not exported abroad,” Moreno said.
Groups further criticized a proposed law in the Netherlands that would criminalize supporting undocumented migrants.
“These laws don’t just target migrants, they target those who provide shelter, food, legal and medical help for our undocumented kababayans. We demand that the Philippine embassy provide protection for undocumented Filipino migrants and defend their dignity in the face of growing criminalization,” an emailed statement from the groups read.
The protest was organized by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Europe, Migrante Netherlands, Pinay sa Holland-Gabriela, Angat Pinas, Filipinos Against Corruption and Tyranny (Fact) and Balik/bayan.
It concluded with a commitment to continue resisting tyranny, demanding justice for Duterte’s alleged victims and fighting for the rights and dignity of Filipino migrants.
