Crowds of supporters of Philippine presidential candidate Bong Bong Marcos (BBM) who gathered near Nam Van Lake were peacefully disbanded yesterday evening by police.
BBM is the only son of late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.
Aside from showing support for BBM, supporters gathered for the “Red Day” photo-taking event for the candidate, with crowds of supporters wearing red shirts in support of BBM gathering in different areas of Macau.
At Nam Van Lake, one of the local gathering points for his supporters yesterday, they were asked to leave the area by police. Though some did not know the exact reason, some told The Macau Post Daily that they speculated that the event did not have the proper authorisation necessary for the event to be held while also noting the use of banners.
A 55-year-old non-resident worker told The Macau Post Daily that the main purpose of the gathering was to show support for BBM, but did not expect there to be that many participants, saying that “we guessed that there would only be, at most, 50 of us there”. She said the reason that so many gathered was probably due to how news of the event spread through people hearing about the event on Facebook groups and group chats.
Observers estimated that the number of supporters near Nam Van Lake was around one hundred.
Moreover, another non-local resident said that those who could not come to earlier gatherings came to the one at the lake, noting that had there not been a limit, there would have been more supporters present.
A 43-year-old non-resident worker, who was one of the people who organised the gathering, also said that she did not expect there to be that many attendees and acknowledged that there were too many people present. She said that there had been a “protocol” that they had followed, noting that she had not posted on Facebook groups that there would be a meeting, saying “only our own groups were supposed to know about it, but it spread. Our only intention was that those who were in particular group chats were the only ones who were supposed to attend so that there would only be a few people so that we could organise ourselves.” However, she also added that the members of the group chats grew to a considerable amount and added that other people probably also heard about the event and led to other groups of supporters joining the gathering.
When asked about the purpose of the gathering and its significance, she said that “as OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers] we want to unify to show support for BBM so that perhaps he may see that he has supporters overseas that have unified for him and want him to be president”, adding that she believes that he will pave the way for the improvement of the Philippines.
Another pro-BBM gathering took place in front of the Ruins of St. Paul’s landmark.
At the end of September, the number of non-resident workers from the Philippines in Macau stood at about 28,000, according to official statistics. Several thousand Philippine nationals are said to be holders of Macau resident ID cards.
Crowds of BBM supporters gather near Nam Van Lake yesterday evening before the police asked them to disband. Photo: Rui Pastorin
