On Tuesday morning protestors gathered outside of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in protest of her meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Marcos, who is currently on a four-day trip to the United States, which is aligned with the Biden administration’s plan to strengthen their ties to the southeast Asian country, was welcomed by Harris into her residence. Previously the Philippines, under former president Rodrigo Duterte, was closely aligned with China. These meetings now are meant to send a message to Beijing about the strengthened relations that the U.S. has with the Southeast Asian country.
Still, the public does not appear to be pleased with this development with many anti-Marcos protestors gathering outside Harris’ residence to chant “The Philippines is not for sale.”
One protestor in particular noted that Harris should know that the Filipino people did not want to see their country being for sale. Others shouted chants against the U.S. providing military aid to the Philippines at a time when the people wanted to see a focus on stopping human rights abuses and protecting the country’s sovereignty.
In October 2022, the Biden administration agreed to provide $100 million in military aid to the country. Since 2015, the Philippines has received military equipment worth more than $1 billion from the U.S.
A White House official told Newsweek that during her meeting with Marcos, Harris did discuss labor rights and many of the things that she had previously discussed with human rights activists pertaining to media freedom and trafficking.
