<![CDATA[Why is Bernie Sanders tweeting about Philippine trade unions in his 2020 US election campaign?]>
On the campaign trail for the 2020 US presidential election, Bernie Sanders unleashed a broadside on November 15 that made the Philippine presidential palace sputter in protest, but which pleased unions and human rights activists.
They were reacting to a Twitter post from the 77-year-old senator from Vermont that said: "In recent years, we have seen abhorrent human rights abuses by the Philippine government. This repression of trade unionists is a shameful attempt to silence people's rights and freedoms. More than ever, we must stand on the side of global human rights."
The "repression" referred to a series of night-time arrests on October 31 against 57 members of labour and civil society groups in the Philippines.
The Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation issued a statement condemning this "new wave of police repression of Philippine trade unionists", which Sanders soon picked up and denounced as well.
His tweet had barely trended when Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Martin Andanar criticised it. He accused Sanders of "grandstanding on an issue he obviously does not know the details of, not to mention meddling in our national affairs, which he has no business over".
Sanders is one of more than 15 people vying to become the Democratic Party's candidate for president. He is the top tier of candidates along with former vice-president Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Martin Andanar said Sanders was 'grandstanding on an issue he obviously does not know the details of'. Photo: Xinhua alt=Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Martin Andanar said Sanders was 'grandstanding on an issue he obviously does not know the details of'. Photo: Xinhua
According to a source with inside knowledge of the Sanders campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a Filipino-American individual or group had likely asked Sanders to make a statement on the issue, and the senator was fully behind the unions and their right to strike.
"Sanders describes himself as a socialist senator [and] is supported by the largest socialist populist organisation in the US, the Democratic Socialist Alliance," the source said.
The alliance had at least one Filipino-American staff member, the source added.
Some of the labour groups in question are suspected of having links to the banned New People's Army, the armed wing of the Philippines' communist political faction.
Political scientist Dr Jean Franco, who has carried out studies on Filipino-Americans, said Sanders was "courting the ethnic vote just in case it's going to be a very tight election".
She said research indicated that "Filipinos tend to register as Republicans then vote Democrat".
The 3.4 million Filipinos in the United States make up the second largest Asian-American group after Chinese-Americans, according to Pew Research.
But for Filipino Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation who is studying for a master's degree in international affairs at American University in Washington, Sanders was not only trying to court Filipino-American voters but also "the general electorate who think the US should continue to champion rights and call out countries for infringements".
Some of the labour groups targeted are suspected of having links to the banned New People's Army, the armed wing of the Philippines' communist political faction. Photo: EPA alt=Some of the labour groups targeted are suspected of having links to the banned New People's Army, the armed wing of the Philippines' communist political faction. Photo: EPA
"The US, for instance, just passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would make the continued granting of special trading status to Hong Kong contingent on the city government's maintenance of autonomy from Beijing and observance of rights and freedoms," he said.
On Saturday Philippine politics again became a talking point in the US when actress and singer Bette Midler named President Rodrigo Duterte as one of the world's most notorious leaders in a tweet calling on Americans to take interest in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
"For Americans who think the impeachment hearings have nothing to do with them, think again. Want to leave the door open to a Hitler? A Stalin? A Castro? A Duterte? A Pol Pot? A Putin? An Assad? A Chavez? A Kim Jong-un? A Mussolini? A Mugabe? An Amin? Trump's the gateway to that," she wrote.
Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo in return said Midler had no right to criticise Duterte and called her "a gullible talking head".
Vivian Zalvidea Araullo, a Filipino-American labour organiser and union representative for government workers in San Francisco, said of Sanders' tweet: "I don't believe it is a 'points scoring' tactic at all. If anything, there are Filipino-Americans who support Duterte."
She said "the safe political tactic at this point in the Democratic primaries is to avoid international politics and focus on bread on the table issues".
"I don't see this as a positive in any political calculus," she added.
"I honestly believe Mr Sanders was aghast " as anyone should be " over the human rights violations in the Philippines, now specifically targeting anyone who might have progressive views such as labour organisers and activists."
Renato Reyes, secretary general of leftist party Bayan Muna, which has three seats in the Philippine Congress, said statements of support from US politicians such as Sanders, "coming from officials within the 'belly of the beast', are indeed most welcome".
"Any statement of concern and solidarity, from whichever part of the world, even from within the US, is appreciated by the struggling Filipino people," he said, adding that he was not surprised by Sanders' intervention because the issue had been widely reported.
"We hope that a Bernie presidency will look at the particular issue of US military aid to fascist regimes," he added.
Manila and Washington have a close military partnership.
Sanders campaign representatives could not be reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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