Biden walks human rights tightrope while hosting Filipino president amid China tension
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden hosted Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines and son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, at the White House on Monday as the administration seeks to shore up relationships with regional allies amid escalating tensions with China.
Marcos Jr.’s four-day trip to the United States will mark the first visit by a president of the Philippines to the White House in more than a decade. The Pentagon announced plans in February to boost U.S. military presence in the islands, and the two countries held joint exercises near the strait of Taiwan in recent days.
BIDEN LOOKS TO STRENGTHEN MILITARY TIES WITH THE PHILIPPINES AS TENSION WITH CHINA INCREASES
The U.S. also plans to transfer three C-130 aircraft and additional vessels to the Philippines to conduct patrols in the region, according to senior administration officials. The administration has declined to give the exact number of U.S. troops that will be moved to the Philippines.
“We are facing new challenges, and I couldn’t think of a better partner to have than you,” Biden told Marcos Jr. at the top of their bilateral meeting. “Together we’re tackling climate change, we’re accelerating our countries’ transition to clean energy, and we’re standing up for our shared democratic values and workers rights and rule of law.”
“The United States also remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including the South China Sea, and we will continue to support the Philippines’ military modernization,” he added.
Marcos Jr. additionally told Biden that he hopes to “strengthen our alliance and our partnership in the face of the new economy, post-pandemic.”
“Beyond that, there are also new political issues that have made the region where the Philippines is possibly the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now,” he continued. “So it is only natural that the Philippines to look to its sole treaty partner in the world to strengthen, to redefine the relationship that we have and the roles that we play in the face of those rising tensions that we see now around the South China Sea and Asia Pacific.”
China has spent recent months increasing its operations in the South China Sea. The Philippines directly accused the Chinese military of pointing a laser at a ship in the South China Sea, temporarily blinding a crew member.
“Some of the steps that China have taken have concerned [Marcos Jr.], probably even surprised him,” an official briefing reporters ahead of Monday’s meeting said of recent developments. “He has a — I think — strong desire to work closely with both countries but finds himself in a situation that the steps that China’s taking are deeply concerning.”
“In short, we’re showing that one of our longest-standing alliances has been renewed with tremendous momentum as we prepare together to face the challenges of the future,” national security spokesman John Kirby added. “It should be a good meeting, and we’re excited to have President Marcos and the first lady of the Philippines here today.”
The U.S.-Philippines relationship soured under former President Rodrigo Duterte, but the White House views the country as a critical player in maintaining the current status quo in the region. The Filipino island of Itbayat is located less than 100 miles from Taiwan.
Flocks of Filipino protesters gathered outside of the White House ahead of Marcos Jr.’s visit, demanding the U.S. limit its military presence in the islands and condemning Biden for turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses carried out by the first Marcos regime.
Marcos Sr., who received strong backing from former President Ronald Reagan, held power in the Philippines for 20 years. He declared martial law in 1972 and was forced into exile in 1986 following a popular revolution.
The Biden administration has openly courted the younger Marcos since his presidential inauguration in 2022 despite open questions about his past corruption and recent handling of human rights abuses in his father’s government.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at Monday’s press briefing that Biden’s decision to host the bilateral meeting was centered on “strengthening our important alliances with the Philippines, which has been a force for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for over 70 years.”
“Our work together will allow our alliances to operate more effectively, not only for the defense of the Philippines but for the good of the region, such as the [response] to natural disasters,” she stated. “We have shared with the Philippines for decades common interests, values, and commitment to regional stability and security.”
Jean-Pierre and White House aides did not answer questions from the Washington Examiner if the president believes it’s more important to rally regional opposition to China rather than address Marcos’s decadeslong history of undemocratic behavior.
The younger Marcos, who fled to Hawaii along with his father in 1986, returned to the Philippines in 1991 before relaunching his political career. His father had installed him, then just 23 years old, as the vice governor of his family’s home province of Ilocos Norte in 1980. He then served as governor of Ilocos Norte from 1983-86.
In 2016, he ran for the country’s vice presidency but would go on to lose to Camarines Sur before filing a protest of the results. His petition was denied after a recount widened Sur’s more than 200,000 vote lead by an additional 15,000 votes.
Marcos Jr. currently has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in the U.S. after refusing to pay court-ordered damages to families and survivors of the human rights abuses carried out by his father’s regime. He claims his political office grants him diplomatic immunity and continues to travel freely to the U.S.
Furthermore, Marcos Jr. has consistently resisted paying hundreds of millions in back taxes to the Philippines since his return. His family is believed to have plundered between $2 billion to $10 billion in funds from the government throughout Marcos Sr.s’ regime, and the country’s Supreme Court identified Bongbong as one of three Marcos family members who were significant beneficiaries of Marcos Sr.’s “ill-gotten wealth.”
Marcos Jr. has also spent the second phase of his political career minimizing the abuses of his father’s regime. Amnesty International estimates that roughly 70,000 people were imprisoned and 34,000 tortured throughout Marcos’s 20-year tenure.
The Congress of the Philippines passed the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act in 2012, which recognizes 11,000 Filipinos as tortured and summarily executed by the regime between 1972-1986.
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During his 2021 campaign, Marcos Jr. acknowledged the human rights abuses of his father’s regime but declined to apologize.
“I can only apologize for myself, and I am willing to do that if I have done something wrong and if that neglect or that wrongdoing has been damaging to somebody,” he told CNN. “No matter what apologies you give, it won’t be enough. It’s not been enough because the political forces opposing my father — let us remember, his government fell. They won. That side of the political aisle has been dominant since 1986.”