U.S. Capitol Siege Had Filipino and Canadian Participants

 Volume 2, Issue No. 50

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

 Our latest as of Wednesday, January 13, 2021 

~ The protest march was not a cookout nor an out-of-town excursion to see the usual tourist destinations in Washington, DC, and the Capitol. Hordes of people in all manner of dress, or undress, are marching to the beat of President Donald Trump's call to disrupt the final stage of vote-counting leading to the formal declaration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the duly elected president and vice president of the United States. Except that Trump did not see it that way. As in the past, he repeated the unfounded claim he was being cheated. "Stop the steal" ended in a coup with five dead and dozens of injuries.

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COUP ATTEMPT IN THE U.S.

A Filipino and Canadian Presence in the Capitol Siege

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Respect for sovereignty means to not allow unconstitutional action and coups d'etat, the removal of legitimate power". - Vladimir Putin

TORONTO - At least three scenes, both amusing and thought-provoking, in last week's turbulent attack on the US Capitol would probably end up as footnotes to the closing days of President Donald Trump's scandal-plagued administration.

Iconic symbols associated with three countries, namely, the Philippines, Canada, and Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, could be gleaned from film footages repeatedly shown on various television networks and social media. 

To me, they lent an international flavor to the siege one week ago that left five people dead and dozens of injuries. Felony charges have been filed by the FBI against 70 people identified as participants, authorities announced in Washington, DC.

To some extent, they also represented unspoken support for Trump and his relentless call to contest election results by inciting thousands of his followers to march, which they did, to the Capitol building. 

The conservative, right-leaning Republican Party - the party of (Abraham) Lincoln, as it is commonly called - enjoys a broad following among immigrants and communities of color, so advancing to the beat of Trumpism is not entirely unusual.

An unidentified person carried a "walis tambo" (soft broom) as part of his disguise. That cleaning tool, as most Filipinos know, is distinctive of the Philippines. (Full story at: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/01/08/fake-news-lawyer-names-capitol-hill-protester-as-dong-abay/).

Easily noticeable too even from afar was the red-and-white national flag of Canada, and the banned yellow-and-red emblem of the former Republic of Vietnam.

The haughtily masked man garbed in a Captain America costume was photographed with a makeshift shield attached to the broom inside the National Statuary Hall. That meant he was among the thousands who broke into the building. (Info at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Statuary_Hall#cite_ref-7).

If this guy was indeed a Filipino, he had the good sense of not bringing a Philippine flag to affirm his identity, for that could be interpreted in many different ways.

Presumably, the broom man is still scot-free as there has been no report of any arrest identifying him as the person disguised as Captain America. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/filipinos-among-those-in-attempted-coup.html).

Outside the Capitol building, a horde of protesters had gathered apparently waiting for what would happen to the people at the spearhead trying to break in. 

It's here where the Canadian flag was being waved with its unmistakable red field and white square and a stylized maple leaf in the middle. The Maple Leaf sticks out like a sore thumb in this sea of US and Trump banners, and MAGA hats. 

The sight raises many questions. Was it a Canadian citizen who was carrying the flag? If so, why would he drag Canada into the fray? Was this guy a loyal Trumpist? Does his presence there indicate Canada has Trump loyalists within its borders? 

I believe the basic question is: Have Canadian authorities taken notice of this incident which could be construed as interference in US domestic affairs? What's behind waving the Canadian flag in a highly-partisan event?

Now, to see Vietnam's old banner would seem understandable. Showing it harks back to the 70s, just before the fall of South Vietnam to the communists. It was the national flag of the Republic of Vietnam from 1949 to 1975, the year it reunited with North Vietnam to form the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Trump appears to be taken favorably by Vietnamese-Americans, especially those who escaped the war and eventually settled in the US from refugee camps, including one in Bataan province in the Philippines.

"Former South Vietnamese citizens who fled Vietnam in the late 1970s and 1980s as Boat People," says Wikipedia, "consider the current Vietnamese flag offensive and even sometimes even triggering as they see it as a symbol of an administration that had persecuted them during and after the war." (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).