Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos poured into Manila’s streets on Sunday in the largest demonstration yet demanding accountability for a massive flood-control corruption scandal that has ensnared lawmakers, senior officials and construction executives.
Public anger has grown in recent months after authorities found thousands of flood-defense projects across the typhoon-prone nation to be substandard, unfinished or nonexistent. In Senate and fact-finding commission hearings, government engineers and construction executives alleged that members of Congress and officials in the Department of Public Works and Highways took kickbacks to secure contracts and evade oversight — accusations most of the officials denied.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said about 320,000 members of the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo began a three-day rally at Manila’s Rizal Park, many dressed in white and carrying anti-corruption placards. Another group, including retired generals, held a separate protest at the People Power monument in Quezon City.
Police and military units were placed on full alert, with thousands deployed across the capital. Authorities expect the gatherings to remain peaceful, though a rally on Sept. 21 turned violent when black-clad protesters hurled rocks, bottles and firebombs near the presidential palace, injuring more than 100 police officers. The palace has been under tight lockdown since Friday, with major access roads sealed by barricades and cargo containers.
Flood-control failures have intensified public frustration, with two typhoons killing at least 259 people this month, mostly in flash floods and landslides.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sought to calm the unrest, saying on Thursday that several powerful politicians and business figures implicated in the scandal “will be in jail by Christmas.” An independent commission has filed graft and plunder charges against 37 suspects, along with tax-evasion complaints involving nearly 9 billion pesos ($152 million) against dozens of construction executives and government officials.
Those accused include both allies and critics of Marcos: former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, his cousin; former Senate President Chiz Escudero; and Sen. Bong Go, an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte. All have denied wrongdoing.
Duterte, currently detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands over alleged crimes against humanity in his anti-drug campaign, has become a fierce critic of Marcos. His daughter, the vice president, said Marcos should also be held accountable for signing a budget that allocated billions for flood-control works.
Some pro-Duterte groups have called on the military to withdraw support from Marcos, but Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. dismissed the proposals, vowing the military would remain within constitutional bounds.
“Not today, not tomorrow and certainly not under my watch,” he said.