Widespread corruption in vital flood control initiatives has ignited nationwide protests across the Philippines, demanding swift accountability from top officials and lawmakers amid an escalating public fury.
Thousands of citizens, including prominent Catholic clergy, took to the streets in Manila and other cities to demonstrate against pervasive graft. The main protest gathered over 5,000 participants, many dressed in white, near the historic “People Power” Monument on the EDSA highway in Manila.
Separate, smaller demonstrations were also staged by left-wing groups in a central Manila park, with calls for the immediate resignation and prosecution of all implicated officials. Public anger has surged over revelations that crucial flood control projects were poorly executed, damaged, or never built, despite the Philippines’ frequent vulnerability to severe tropical flooding.
Protesters are demanding that members of Congress, government officials, and construction company owners linked to thousands of fraudulent flood control projects face imprisonment and be compelled to return stolen state funds. One demonstrator wore a shirt explicitly stating, “No mercy for the greedy.”
Father Flavi Villanueva, a Catholic priest leading anti-corruption efforts, addressed the crowds, stating, “If money is stolen, that is a crime, but if dignity and lives are taken, this is a sin against fellow human beings, against the nation, and most importantly, against God.” He urged authorities to “Imprison all corrupt and murderers.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has worked to mitigate public discontent. He warned of irregularities in flood control projects during his state-of-the-nation address in July. Marcos Jr. had previously pledged that dozens of influential senators, congressmen, and construction executives involved in the scandal would be jailed before Christmas.
Authorities have already frozen approximately 12 billion Philippine pesos, roughly $216 million USD, in assets belonging to suspects in the corruption cases.
Last Friday, a former government engineer named Henry Alcantara confessed to the Senate about his involvement in the corruption. He returned 110 million Philippine pesos, approximately $2 million USD, in bribes and promised further restitution in the coming weeks.
At least seven public works officials have been jailed for misuse of state funds and other corruption offenses related to a single flood control project, with executives from the involved Sunwest Corp. still being sought.
Amid the public unrest, and given the country’s history of two presidential oustings in the last 39 years, some voices have called for the military to withdraw its support for the Marcos administration.
The Philippine military, however, strongly rejected these demands. It affirmed its role as a pillar of stability and a guardian of democracy.
More than 17,000 police officers were deployed to ensure security during the Manila protests. The area surrounding the Malacañang Presidential Palace was sealed off, with riot police, trucks, and barbed wire securing key roads and bridges.