MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine capital witnessed significant civil unrest on Sunday as thousands of citizens, including prominent Roman Catholic clergy members, organized coordinated demonstrations demanding immediate accountability for government officials embroiled in a widespread corruption scandal involving misappropriated flood control funds.
In a powerful display of public outrage, left-wing activist groups staged separate protests at Manila’s central park, issuing uncompromising demands for the resignation and prosecution of all officials connected to the scandal. The corruption scheme allegedly diverted billions of pesos intended for critical infrastructure projects, resulting in substandard, defective, or completely nonexistent flood control systems across the disaster-prone archipelago nation.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration has been working to contain the political fallout from the scandal, which has exposed systemic graft within legislative and public works sectors. The presidential palace complex implemented stringent security measures, deploying over 17,000 police officers throughout metropolitan Manila and establishing barricades with anti-riot forces, military trucks, and barbed wire installations.
Amid the heightened tensions, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to constitutional democracy, supporting a statement endorsed by 88 retired generals—including three former military chiefs of staff—that condemned calls for military intervention against the current administration.
Catholic churches nationwide facilitated the anti-corruption rallies, with the primary gathering occurring at the historic EDSA highway ‘people power’ monument. Approximately 5,000 demonstrators, predominantly dressed in symbolic white attire, demanded the imprisonment of legislators, officials, and construction executives responsible for the infrastructure failures. Reverend Flavie Villanueva, a prominent Catholic priest known for his advocacy work, addressed the crowd, declaring: ‘Jail all the corrupt and jail all the killers.’
The ongoing investigation has yielded concrete results: seven public works officers have been incarcerated on graft charges, former government engineer Henry Alcantara has returned 110 million pesos ($1.9 million) in kickbacks, and authorities have frozen approximately 12 billion pesos ($206 million) in assets connected to the scandal. President Marcos has publicly committed to seeing numerous implicated senators, congress members, and business executives imprisoned before Christmas, though protesters demand even swifter justice and full restitution of stolen public funds.