Philippines: 'Trump out!' Women rally ahead of ASEAN summit

Carrying banners reading "Trump Out!", "Trump Out Now!" and "Resist US-Led Wars!", demonstrators marched along Kalaw Avenue in Manila on Monday 9 November against the US president's planned visit for the 49th ASEAN Summit. In a symbolic rejection, several protesters swept images of Trump along the road with brooms while others marched behind them. "Let's reject the visit of Donald Trump. Let's not welcome him as a guest of honour," one demonstrator said in Tagalog.

The rally, led by the women's group Gabriela, came days before the summit, which Manila hosts in mid-November and which the White House and Malacañang have confirmed Trump will attend, his first visit since 2017.

Beyond opposing the visit, protesters demanded the scrapping of Pax Silica, the US-led pact on secure supply chains for semiconductors, critical minerals and AI, which the Philippines joined in April 2026 as its 13th signatory. Its centrepiece is a proposed 4,000-acre hub in New Clark City, Tarlac, which activists say serves US interests over Filipino ones. "We are rejecting this framework as it does not prioritise the interest of the Filipino people," one participant told AFP. Gabriela also called for the Visiting Forces Agreement to be scrapped.