Philippine Students Protest in Manila Ahead of Trump's Visit, Opposing the U.S.-Led Pax Silica Initiative
Philippine students protested in Manila on November 13 against U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming visit for the 49th ASEAN Summit, demanding the scrapping of Pax Silica, the U.S.-led initiative on secure supply chains for semiconductors and critical minerals.
Hundreds of students from Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines Diliman and Miriam College gathered that day under the "One Katipunan" banner outside the Della Strada parish on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. University of the Philippines students also walked out of classes and marched around their campus with banners calling for Trump's ouster and opposing the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Local media reported that Trump was expected to arrive shortly before the summit closes, the last leader to reach Manila, and that security had been stepped up around the summit venue, the Philippine International Convention Center.
It was the second protest against Trump's visit within a week. On November 9, dozens of women led by the Gabriela group marched along Kalaw Avenue in Manila carrying "Trump Out" placards, some sweeping pictures of Trump along the road with brooms in a symbolic rejection. The protesters demanded the scrapping of Pax Silica, which the Philippines joined in April as its 13th signatory. The nationalist alliance BAYAN has vowed mass protests, including the burning of a Trump effigy, during his visit on November 16-17.
The 49th ASEAN Summit runs from November 15 to 17 in Manila. Trump's trip is his first visit to the Philippines since 2017, and both the White House and Malacañang have confirmed he will attend. The U.S. Embassy has said no announcement on the proposed Pax Silica economic security zone will be made during or after the summit.
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：第49届东盟峰会场馆菲律宾国际会议中心内景（资料图）。照片 CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Interior of the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, venue of the 49th ASEAN Summit (file photo). CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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