KARAPATAN: Marcos’ ASEAN chairship and UNSC seat are shameful acts of window dressing
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS STATEMENT
07 May 2026
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: Marcos’ ASEAN chairship and UNSC seat are shameful acts of window dressing
KARAPATAN deplores Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s chairship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Ministerial Forum opens today, May 7, 2026 in Cebu, Philippines, and his pursuit of a seat at the United Nations Security Council as shameful acts of window dressing, given his sordid human rights record and his being a lapdog of the US.
Marcos Jr. has long wanted to project an image far removed from that of his dictator-father, and has chosen the international arena to do this, on the dubious premise that the international community would know less about his fascist policies and measures and his obsequiousness to the US.
The international community, however, has not forgotten the fascist and puppet legacy of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and has enough cause to despise the Marcos scion for his own sins.
The Negros 19 massacre is but the latest incident that has invited closer international scrutiny of Marcos Jr.’s brutal conduct of his counter-insurgency war and his violations of human rights and international humanitarian law concerning the protection of civilians.
The recent firing of a Tomahawk missile from Philippine soil also has a potentially polarizing effect on ASEAN countries who already view the move as a shift that will escalate tensions with China and jeopardize regional peace. With China viewing the missile firing as a provocation, Marcos Jr. may well have sabotaged his ambition of sealing a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea between the ASEAN and China during his chairmanship. Marcos Jr.’s closeness to US Pres. Donald Trump also sets him apart from a steadily growing number of countries who have chosen to distance themselves from the US over the latter’s wars of aggression and interventionism.
Marcos Jr.’s own choices of continuing his father’s fascism and puppetry to the US are subverting his goal of rehabilitating his family name in the international community. Internationally, Marcos Jr. is as much a pariah as his dictator-father, no matter how many chairships or seats in global forums he holds or pursues.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.