Enzo Manzano holds solo protests vs. Duterte admin in New York City

(CNN Philippines, June 20) — In solidarity with Filipino activists who he said cannot rally against the Philippine government amid the ban on mass gatherings back home, a son of veteran actor Edu Manzano held protests of his own in New York City.

Enzo Manzano said in a Facebook post on Thursday that went viral: “Sucks to hear that my fellow Filipinos can’t protest back home…I hope my lone protest can make up for that. At least a little bit!”

Manzano shared that he chose to stand outside the United Nations headquarters for three hours, a decision which took him three days to make, as he “was never the type to protest.”

Seeing the news about the Philippine government and realizing that “lengthy Facebook posts don’t do the trick” changed his disposition, Manzano said.

“With all that the Philippine government is doing, it’s either you’re fighting to keep your country alive or not,” he added.

Accompanying the post, which has garnered over 11,000 Facebook ”likes” and over 3,200 “shares,” was photos of him holding two signs, one of which read: “Duterte and the Philippine gov’t are taking away my people’s basic rights!”

Prior to the Facebook post, he recorded himself live, showing the second half of his protest.

The next day, Manzano took to the streets of the populous U.S. city again, this time in front of the Consulate General of the Philippines, to condemn the current administration’s alleged attempts at “destroying” democracy.

Mass gatherings such as demonstrations are banned to prevent COVID-19 transmission. Earlier this month, several people had been arrested for protesting but were later released by local courts.

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