Visit of Ferdinand Marcos Jr stirs controversy in FilAm community

A group of Filipino American community members, artists, and scholars openly denounced the visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the U.S. Friday.

They specifically called out the Asia Society and its president and CEO Kevin Rudd for hosting the son of the former dictator, Marcos Sr.

In an open letter published by Medium, the group wrote “Ferdinand Marcos, Jr, became president of the Philippines by spreading lies about Philippine history, specifically his father’s regime, by cheating the public of fair and honest elections, and by continuing the regime of terror of the previous dictator, Rodrigo Duterte, for whom the Marcos regime was the blueprint,” the letter stated.

On Friday, the group says Rudd held a talk with Marcos Jr. Citing information from Amnesty Internation, Wikipedia says his father’s dictatorship lead to the killings of 3257 known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures and 77,000 incarcerations, along with the disappearance of 77.

“We call out Asia Society for its embrace of fascism and historical lies in the person of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr,” they said.

AsAmNews reached out to the Asia Society early this morning, but have not heard back. We will add their comments should we get it.

Marcos also met with President Biden during both of their visits to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Biden praised the strong ties between the two countries.

“We have strong ties, including millions of Filipino Americans who are very proud of their ancestry and desperately want us to continue to have a strong relationship. And our foundations are strong in the U.S.-Philippine alliance, which is of critical importance,” Biden said, according to Politico.

The letter to the Asia Society was sent by Gina Apostol, novelist, NY; Nancy Bulalacao, public programs curator, NY; Nerissa S. Balce, scholar, NY
Fritzie de Mata, independent scholar, CAJoi Barrios, and Joel Barrios, poet and scholar, MA.

They have called on a boycott of the Asia society.

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.

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