8 Feb 2023
For Filipinos like me who grew up under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the news that the U.S. military would expand its presence in the Philippines has been dizzying and wounding. The image of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shaking hands in Manila last week with the country’s fatuously smiling president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the former despot, was like some tragic Groundhog Day.
![[Image: 230202-D-TT977-0041.JPG]](https://media.defense.gov/2023/Feb/02/2003154200/825/780/0/230202-D-TT977-0041.JPG)
https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/dancin...ilippines/
For Filipinos like me who grew up under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the news that the U.S. military would expand its presence in the Philippines has been dizzying and wounding. The image of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shaking hands in Manila last week with the country’s fatuously smiling president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the former despot, was like some tragic Groundhog Day.
https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/dancin...ilippines/