Sticks, picks, shovels, walis tambo storm US Capitol

MANILA, Philippines — They were carrying sticks, picks, shovels, even guns – and at least one of them a “walis tambo” – when they stormed the US Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from declaring officially the election victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump.

An unidentified Trump supporter in sunglasses – his or her face covered with cloth – was seen waving a walis tambo or whiskbroom, with its handle decorated with an improvised Captain America shield. Walis tambo is a basic cleaning instrument in every Filipino household. It’s not clear if the carrier of the broom was a Filipino or if the broom was locally made.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the carrying of the walis tambo could have a symbolic meaning – to clean up the government.

“Walis to clean up the government. Okay. It has a symbolic purpose but the skinned buffalo head and horns? That’s not insanity but smarts,” Locsin remarked on Twitter.

“They came looking like a circus because no one would think of shooting clowns. What would the kids say,” he said.

“Walis tambo” is made from dried stalks and flowers of grass locally known as tambo. It is a favorite tool for sweeping dust and dirt from wooden and cemented/tiled floors.

Violence erupted on Wednesday when Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol building, temporarily bringing to a halt the certification of November’s presidential election results, which showed Biden winning the race.

Despite the development, Locsin said US democracy remains “strong to the bone” and that it is still the world’s leading power.

“I hope the enemies of liberty among mock world powers don’t believe and won’t peddle the line that the US is done for; US democracy is strong to the bone,” Locsin said in his tweet.

Despite the mob violence, and clashes with police, seen across the world on television, Locsin stressed “American power can cope with a civil disturbance and fight wars on three fronts if it wants to—and come out the winner.”

“US can handle this & more—sad as it is to see—and still emerge world’s leading power. This is not a nightmare of democracy but a fever,” he said. “It would be a nightmare of authoritarianism which is mortally wounded by such upheavals. Saw this before. Democracy is elastic steel.”

A “correct magnificent analogy,” he said, is the 1986 People Power that toppled dictator President Ferdinand Marcos and catapulted Corazon Aquino to the presidency.

“Our Finest Hour. Yesterday parodied that,” he said.

He said Vice President Mike Pence’s condemning the violence in the US Capitol and acknowledging that he does not have the power to throw out the electoral votes is American democracy’s finest hour.

“This will be this man’s and American democracy’s finest hour. He stepped out of power to stand by American democracy, irreplaceable; with all its flaws the best form of government including the quavering silence of autocracies. Not fascism but misguided,” Locsin said.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said Philippine embassy and consular offices in the US have been instructed to monitor the situation on the ground.

“The secretary of foreign affairs has spoken. Our secretary of foreign affairs is confident that the democracy in America won’t fall because of this brief melee that we saw. What is important is to ensure that no Filipino would be caught in that melee,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

“Our embassies and consular offices in Washington, D.C. have been directed to monitor and report immediately if a Filipino is hurt or is caught in the melee,” he added. – Alexis Romero