Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Manila on Sunday for a massive three-day rally, demanding government accountability for a widespread corruption scandal involving top officials and lawmakers. Police estimate that around 550,000 people attended the protest in Rizal Park, which is expected to last until Tuesday.
Public anger has been growing since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. first revealed the scandal in July, following weeks of deadly flooding. The scandal centers on government-funded flood-control projects that were found to be substandard or, in some cases, “ghost projects” that never existed at all.
Contractors are accused of pocketing funds, and whistleblowers allege that some legislators received kickbacks from the construction companies. This issue is critically sensitive in the Philippines, which is one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis. The rally comes after two recent typhoons killed more than 250 people, many in flash floods and landslides.
Organizers of the protest, an independent Christian church, stated, “This peaceful movement demands a thorough, fair, and constitutional investigation because corruption has harmed every Filipino, yet no one has been held accountable.”
In response to the growing outrage, President Marcos said last Thursday that many senators, members of Congress, and businesspeople implicated in the case would be “in jail by Christmas.” He reported that an independent commission has already filed criminal complaints against 37 suspects.
