As dusk fell on a Hong Kong beach, around a dozen Filipino migrant workers turned on their phone flashlights and placed them around the image of a clenched fist, a symbol of support for Rodrigo Duterte.
The group bowed their heads and said a prayer for the former Philippines president, who is being tried at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over his war on drugs.
“Please touch the hearts of President Marcos and the judges of the ICC,” one of them said during the Sunday beach event, referring to current leader Ferdinand Marcos.
“Whatever (Duterte) needs to be held accountable for, we don’t forget the victims, but bring him home.”
ICC prosecutors allege that “potentially tens of thousands of killings were perpetrated” as part of a “widespread and systematic attack” on civilians from Duterte’s years-long campaign against drug users and dealers.
But he still has pockets of strong support.
Just about a week ago Duterte was in Hong Kong, greeted by cheering fans who packed a 2,000-seat stadium and the streets outside.
His dramatic arrest upon returning to Manila stunned Philippine communities around the world, including the financial hub’s 200,000 domestic workers.
His supporters did not necessarily defend his track record.
But they objected to the way he was spirited off to The Hague on the same day as his arrest — with some believing that his extradition was inextricably linked to the spectacular fall-out between the Duterte dynasty and the ruling Marcos family.
“I’m enraged,” said 43-year-old Mary Grace Dolores, who on Sunday was at Central, Hong Kong’s glitzy finance district which is also a popular spot for domestic workers on their day off.
“Duterte should be tried first in the place where he was arrested… the Philippines,” said Dolores, as other Filipinos around her snapped pictures with a pro-Duterte banner.
Jean Laroza, 46, put it more simply: “(The Marcos government) betrayed their fellow Filipino.”
– Overseas Filipinos –
In his 2016 landslide victory, Duterte took more than 70 percent of absentee ballots — only a small fraction of his total votes, but a testament to his popularity among his compatriots abroad.
“He understood the everyday life of overseas Filipinos,” said Jean Franco, a political scientist at the University of Philippines Diliman.
During his term, Duterte doubled passport validity to 10 years and created the Department of Migrant Workers to streamline bureaucratic tasks.
The former president framed his bloody campaign against drug dealers as a “gift” to overseas workers worried about the safety of their loved ones back home, according to Franco.
“He said, ‘I can protect your children,'” she added.
Marilou Mepieza, 47, declared herself “in favour of the war on drugs”, saying it had struck at underlying corruption.
Mattie, who joined the beach prayer event, said Duterte was a leader who dared to take responsibility.
If his rivals want to “bring him to justice”, they should do so at home, he said, declining to provide a last name.
‘An emotional vote’
The Philippines is gearing up for midterm elections in two months, with 83,330 registered voters in Hong Kong — the largest overseas voter base in the Asia Pacific.
“It will become an emotional vote this May,” said Jeremaiah Opiniano from the Institute for Migration and Development Issues.
The stadium rally in Hong Kong this month was an obvious attempt to galvanise the pro-Duterte base.
Originally presented as a religious event, Duterte used the end of his 50-minute speech to lobby for his party’s candidates.
But migrant worker activists said they are trying to broaden the overseas electorate’s view of the vote from the Philippines’ traditional personality-driven politics.
“The Dutertes still have the money; the Marcoses still have the power,” said Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio from the left-wing alliance BAYAN Hong Kong and Macau.
“We are the ordinary people who suffer from these two clans’ clashes.”
A voice of dissent among Central’s pro-Duterte crowd, 51-year-old Rowena Besana was adamant that “Filipino people deserve to know the truth about the extrajudicial killings”.
“These things happened: killing people without mercy, without the proper process,” she said.
“(Duterte) must face the trial and he must tell the truth.”
