Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is set to arrive in Honolulu today for a stop on his way back from the 2023 Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco.
The office of Gov. Josh Green said Friday that he intends to greet the Philippine leader when he arrives this evening.
According to Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asia, Marcos is also expected to meet with Adm. John Aquilino, the U.S. military’s top commander in the Pacific, citing sources with knowledge of the trip. A spokesman for U.S. Indo- Pacific Command declined to offer details, but other military sources confirmed Marcos will meet U.S. military officials.
It will be Marcos first time back in Hawaii since living here in exile after his father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was overthrown during the Philippines’ 1986 People Power Power Revolution.
Marcos Sr. ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. During the last 14 years of his rule, he and his family amassed billions of dollars and kept the country under martial law. After his overthrow the family fled to Hawaii, where they were welcomed by then-Gov. George Ariyoshi; his wife, Jean; and Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Robert Bazley on the runway at Hickam Air Force Base.
During their exile, Marcos and his son frequently criticized American officials in public statements, accusing them of tricking them into coming to Hawaii and charging that the U.S. had interfered in Philippine affairs in ways that contributed to their downfall. But the Marcos family also found support in the islands.
Many Filipinos in Hawaii remained loyal to them throughout the revolution, having emigrated from the family’s home province of Ilocos Norte, where they remain popular. Many overseas Philippine nationals living in Hawaii ultimately voted for Marcos Jr. in their country’s 2022 presidential election, and the family continues to have strong supporters in Hawaii’s Filipino community.
The New York Times reported in 1988 that the Marcos family were “hosts to weekly Sunday afternoon gatherings and lavishly catered dinners at their multi million-dollar Makiki Heights estate and dinner parties at some of the most expensive restaurants in town. Mrs. Marcos also makes occasional shopping trips to Honolulu’s designer dress shops.”
Marcos Sr. died at St. Francis Medical Center in 1989 after a long battle with kidney disease. In an interview that same year, Marcos Jr. said that “the very basic, fundamental question is whether or not we belong here. We do not. Home is in the Philippines, not here.”
The Marcos family was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1992. Since their return they have worked to rehabilitate their image and regain both influence and power. Those efforts culminated in Marcos Jr.’s controversial 2022 election as president. His campaign was criticized by several activists, historians and many others who accused him of rewriting his family’s history.
Nevertheless, he won decisively with 58.77% of the vote, with a margin of 30.83% over the second-place candidate, Leni Robredo.
In a statement about the upcoming arrival of Marcos in Honolulu, local organization Hawai‘i Filipinos for Truth, Justice, and Democracy said that “(by) revising history, Bongbong hopes to make the Filipino people forget that he is both complicit in his father’s crimes and has decided to continue the family legacy of plunder and human rights abuses.”
Marcos and his mother have previously avoided trips to the United States, where they face charges of contempt of court for defying a 1995 Hawaii District Court order to pay reparations to victims of the Marcos regime. Now in seats of power again, many members of the Marcos family have diplomatic immunity.
In October, Philippine Sen. Imee Marcos — Marcos’ sister, visited Hawaii. She was honored at an event hosted by the Oahu Filipino Community Council at Neal S. Blaisdell Park in Pearl City. But opponents also turned out. The Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines held a protest outside the Philippine Consulate in Nuuanu.
As Marcos arrives in Hawaii, both his family’s supporters and opponents in the islands are again preparing.
Anakbayan Hawaii, a local Filipino youth organization that is among those planning to protest today, said in a statement that “the Marcoses have profited largely by exploiting the laws, resources, and people of the country, a fact well- documented by Philippine historians. Meanwhile the working class is forced to look for jobs abroad because the government continues to falter in caring for its people.”
“Even abroad, working Filipino families find little relief,” Anakbayan Hawaii’s statement continued. “How many of us are actually suffering because we are living as borrowed laborers and second-class residents? Not too long ago, thousands of Filipinos lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the Maui fire. Until today, many have yet to receive substantial aid from the Philippine government. Our people are constantly exploited for their labor, and their unanswered cries for help further cement that reality.”
Marcos is expected to meet with the U.S. military’s top commanders in the Pacific while in Hawaii.
The Philippines has been locked in a series of territorial and navigation rights disputes in the South China Sea, a critical waterway that more than a third of all international trade travels through. In particular, the two countries have sparred over the disputed Spratly Islands. In 2016 an international court ruled in the Philippines’ favor and declared that China’s territorial claims had “no legal basis.”
Marcos’ predecessor, the similarly controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, had sought closer relations with China and to distance the Philippines from the United States. However, during his presidency Chinese military forces and vessels regularly attacked Filipino fishermen — driving them from their traditional fishing grounds — and staked out disputed territory.
Marcos campaigned promising to continue many of Duterte’s policies, including seeking closer ties with China. The younger Marcos — who met the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong on a trip to China with his father — touted his friendships with Chinese officials in interviews and argued he could better negotiate with the Chinese government. He even suggested setting aside the 2016 ruling and starting new negotiations with Beijing.
But since Marcos took office, Chinese forces have continued to aggressively harass Philippine vessels, and relations have soured even further. Continued Chinese military operations in the West Philippine Sea — the parts of the South China Sea that the Philippines considers its sovereign territory — has deepened anti- Chinese sentiment in the Philippines and pushed Marcos and his administration to take a much tougher stance with Beijing as it now seeks closer cooperation with the United States, Japan and other countries.
Hawaii-based U.S. military units regularly deploy to the Philippines for training, and the Hawaii National Guard has a direct partnership with the Philippine military through the National Guard’s State Partnership Program. Philippine forces have also trained in Hawaii with increasing frequency.
After the Philippines signed an agreement with the Pentagon earlier this year, China’s ambassador to the country, Huang Xilian, seemingly threatened Filipinos living and working in Taiwan. During an appearance in October at the Manila Forum for Philippines- China Relations, Huang said that “the Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ rather than stoking the fire by offering the U.S. access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care about the 150,000 overseas foreign workers.”
During the APEC summit both Marcos and U.S. President Joe Biden met separately with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss ways to reduce tensions.
