Last July 21,2026, the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in the Philippines. Foreign Ministers of other countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Canada, New Zealand and member countries of the European Union were also present. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended the meeting.

The presence of Marco Rubio was significant because it reaffirmed the US engagement in the Southeast Asia and its support for the Philippines in the South China Sea. The visit also signalled that the Philippines has become a central US partner in the Indo-Pacific region.

One of the major issues discussed during the conference was the South China Sea dispute. The ministers discussed the recent confrontations between Philippine and Chinese ships, how to avoid escalation of the conflict and an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct for the South China Sea.

Member organizations of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) staged a protest action on July 22 to condemn the presence of Secretary Rubio. Bayan said the presence of Rubio was unacceptable to Filipinos. “As the chief foreign policy architect of the fascist Trump regime, Rubio is among the most accountable for the human rights atrocities and  blatant violation of national sovereignty and international law brought about by US imperialist intervention and aggression.”

The meeting of Rubio with Philippine government officials has only pushed the country deeper into serving as a launch pad for US-imperialist war in the Asia Pacific, the group said. It would speed up the creation of the economic security zone under the Pax Silica initiative, which would plunder the environment, and displace Aeta and peasant communities.

Police dispersed the demonstrators and attempted to arrest mass leaders of the demonstrators and members of the media. Several ralyists were injured in the process.

Among those the police attempted to arrest was Amirah Lidasan, a Moro leader of the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance. Lidasan said she believed the police targeted her because she is a Muslim wearing a hijab.