Bishop asks pro-Duterte migrants not to join ‘zero-remittance week’

Thousands of Filipinos staged prayer rallies for Duterte in the Philippines and overseas on 28 March, as he spent his eightieth birthday in detention in The Hague.

A Filipino bishop warned migrant workers against halting their remittances to the Philippines as a form of protest at the Marcos government’s decision to allow the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The Bishop of Antipolo Ruperto Cruz Santos said the proposed “zero-remittance week” threatened the welfare of millions of families, for whom migrant Filipinos’ remittances as a “lifeline”.

“A halt in remittances, even temporarily, could disrupt the lives of these families, leaving them vulnerable and struggling to make ends meet. The very people we aim to protect and uplift may inadvertently bear the brunt of this protest,” the 67-year-old Bishop Santos said. 

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers, commonly called OFWs, are considered a bedrock of the country’s economy. In 2024, the central bank said personal remittances from OFWs reached a record high of over US$38 billion. The more than two million OFWs have been dubbed the Philippines’ “modern-day heroes”.

The “zero-remittance week” is one of the ways by which OFWs have chosen to show support for Duterte, whom they elected by a landslide in 2016.

Thousands of Filipinos staged prayer rallies for Duterte in the Philippines and overseas on 28 March, as he spent his eightieth birthday inside the International Criminal Court detention centre in The Hague. He is accused of crimes against humanity in the war on drugs prosecuted during his presidency, in which thousands died.

In Canada, the Archdiocese of Montreal cancelled permission for pro-Duterte migrants to use church premises for a rally after a complaint from the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Quebec Chapter (ICHRP-Quebec)

The pro-Duterte event was “presented publicly as a birthday celebration”, said the ICHRP-Quebec.

“While fully recognising the right of individuals and groups to assemble and express their political views, holding such an event in a sacred place – within a Catholic Church – seems deeply disturbing to us, given the heavy liability of M. Duterte on human rights violations and public contempt for the Church,” it said.

In Qatar, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said 16 Filipinos were arrested for staging a pro-Duterte rally on 28 March. Qatar is one of the most common destinations for Filipino migrants.

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