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Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos gathered in the capital on Sunday in the largest rally yet to demand accountability for a flood-control corruption scandal that has implicated powerful members. Congress and top government officials.
Various groups have protested in recent months following the discovery that thousands of flood defense projects in one of the world’s most hurricane-prone countries were substandard, incomplete or non-existent.
Government engineers, public works officials and construction company executives have testified under oath at the hearing management committee And a fact-finding commission said members of Congress and officials at the Department of Public Works and Highways took bribes to help construction companies win lucrative contracts and avoid accountability. Most denied the allegations.
About 650,000 members of the Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, turned out for the start of a three-day rally Sunday in Manila’s Rizal Park despite intermittent rain, police said. Many people wore white shirts and carried anti-corruption placards. About 2,000 people, including retired generals, held a separate anti-corruption protest at the “People Power” monument in suburban Quezon City late Sunday.
“These thieves have made us very angry because we pay our taxes and these officials just plunder the treasury and steal our future,” said Rachel Morte, a 41-year-old resident of Northern Pampanga province, who joined the huge manila Rally. “We hope we get justice and the stolen money is returned to the people.”
The Iglesia is an influential group that votes as a bloc and is supported by political candidates during elections.
Interior Secretary Johnwick Remulla said police, backed by the army, were put on full alert and deployed thousands of personnel to protect the weekend rallies, which remained peaceful.
During an anti-corruption protest on September 21, a few hundred black-clad protesters threw stones, bottles and firebombs at police near the Presidential Palace in Manila, injuring more than 100 officers. Criminal complaints have been filed against 97 protesters.
The presidential palace was put under security lockdown over the weekend, with key access roads blocked off by anti-riot police, cargo containers and barbed wire.
National police chief Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartez Jr. ordered law enforcement to exercise “maximum tolerance” at Sunday’s rallies.
Marcos promises action
Flood control is a particularly sensitive issue in the Philippines, one of the Asian countries most affected by deadly typhoons, floods and extreme weather. Two typhoons this month killed at least 259 people, mostly from flash floods and landslides, and affected millions more.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is trying to quell public outrage and street protests over the scandal, saying on Thursday that several powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy businessmen who were involved would be in jail by Christmas.
Marcos said an independent fact-finding commission he created has already filed criminal complaints against 37 suspects for graft, corruption and plunder. Criminal complaints have also been filed against 86 construction company executives and nine government officials for alleged evasion of approximately 9 billion pesos ($152 million) in taxes.
The accused also include Marcos’ opponents and lawmakers associated with him, including former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin and a key aide; and former Senate President Chiz Escudero. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
Senator Bong Go, a key aide to the former president rodrigo duarteHe has also been accused of being involved in corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects. He has denied the allegations.
Duterte, a harsh critic of Marcos, was detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands in March on charges of crimes against humanity because of his brutal anti-drug crackdown.
His daughter, the current vice president, said Marcos should also be held accountable and jailed for approving the 2025 national budget, which appropriated billions for flood control projects.
There have been isolated calls, including from some Duterte supporters, for the military to withdraw its support for Marcos, but General Romeo Browder Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, has repeatedly rejected the idea.
“With full confidence, I assure the public that the armed forces will not engage in any action that violates the Constitution,” Browder said. “Not today, not tomorrow and certainly not on my watch.”
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Aaron Favila is contributing Manila, Philippines.