Philippine authorities face public outrage as demonstrators call for justice over failed infrastructure and corruption.
Tens of thousands of people gathered Monday at Manila’s Quirino Grandstand for the second day of a three-day protest demanding accountability for alleged corruption in government-funded flood-control projects. City authorities estimated the crowd at around 150,000 as of 9 a.m., following Sunday’s opening day, which police said drew more than 550,000 participants.
Organized by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ), the demonstrations focus on flood-control projects authorities and media reports have found substandard or, in some cases, nonexistent. Private contractors are accused of embezzling public funds through “ghost” projects or delivering defective infrastructure, while whistleblowers allege some legislators received kickbacks.
In a Facebook post, organizers said the protest was intended “not to meddle in politics, but to stand with our fellow Filipinos who are calling for truth,” following more than 100 days of alleged wrongdoing without answers. They called for a thorough and constitutional investigation, saying corruption has harmed every Filipino while no one has been held accountable.
Flood control is a particularly sensitive issue in the Philippines, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Two recent typhoons caused flash floods and landslides that killed more than 250 people, intensifying anger over flood-mitigation projects critics say failed to protect communities.
Public outrage has also grown online. In a September report, the BBC cited the activist group Creators Against Corruption saying: “We will be relentless. We will be loud. We will be a mirror held up to power, and we will not look away until justice is served.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has pledged to prosecute those involved, saying many lawmakers and businesspeople linked to the case would be in jail by Christmas. A fact-finding commission he created earlier this year has filed criminal complaints for graft, corruption, and plunder against dozens of suspects, and authorities have frozen billions of pesos in assets and seized luxury vehicles to recover allegedly stolen funds.
Security forces placed the presidential palace district on lockdown over the weekend, blocking major roads with cargo containers, barbed wire, and police anti-riot units. Despite the heavy deployment, Sunday’s rallies in and around Rizal Park remained largely peaceful, though officials recalled that a separate protest on September 21 turned violent when a few hundred black-clad demonstrators clashed with police, injuring more than 100 officers and prompting criminal complaints against nearly 100 protesters.
The protests echo the country’s history of street mobilization influencing politics. Marcos’s father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was ousted in 1986 after the People Power Revolution, a mass uprising fueled in part by public anger over corruption during his two-decade rule.
