MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of protesters rallied in the Philippine capital on Sunday, demanding accountability for a massive corruption scandal in which lawmakers, officials, and businesspeople allegedly received huge kickbacks from flood-control projects.
Security forces were on high alert as demonstrators gathered at a historic Manila park and near a democracy monument along the main EDSA highway. Organizers hoped for one of the country’s largest anti-corruption turnouts in recent years, prompting the U.S. and Australian embassies to issue travel advisories as a precaution.
Marching with Philippine flags, protesters held a banner that read: “No more, too much, jail them,” calling for the immediate prosecution of everyone involved.
“We wallow in poverty and we lose our homes, our lives and our future while they rake in a big fortune from our taxes,” said student activist Althea Trinidad, who joined a crowd police estimated at 8,000 by midday. Trinidad is from Bulacan, a flood-prone province where many of the allegedly substandard or nonexistent projects were investigated. “We want to shift to a system where people will no longer be abused,” she added.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, urged the public to demonstrate peacefully and demand accountability, stating, “Our purpose is not to destabilize but to strengthen our democracy.”
Organizers clarified that the protest targeted corrupt officials and the system that enables them, not a call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign. Marcos himself first brought the scandal to national attention in his state of the nation address in July.
The president later formed an independent commission to investigate anomalies in 9,855 flood-control projects, valued at over 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion), that were supposed to have been undertaken since he took office in mid-2022. Describing the scale of corruption as “horrible,” Marcos has since accepted the resignation of his public works secretary.
Public outrage intensified after a wealthy couple, whose construction firms won lucrative contracts, flaunted their fleet of luxury cars in media interviews, including one vehicle they said was purchased because it came with a free umbrella. During a televised Senate inquiry, the couple, Sarah and Pacifico Discaya, delivered explosive testimony, naming at least 17 House legislators and public works officials who allegedly forced them to pay massive kickbacks.
Two prominent senators were later implicated by a former government engineer in a separate House inquiry. All officials named have denied wrongdoing but are facing multiple investigations.
The scandal’s widening fallout has also seen Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez step down from their posts. Additionally, at least three government engineers have been dismissed, with 15 others under investigation. Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed they all face criminal complaints and that their assets, including bank accounts and properties, will be frozen.
Source link
