Thousands Rally in Manila Demanding Prosecution and Return of Funds in Flood-Project Corruption

Thousands of demonstrators — including Catholic clergy and left-wing activists — marched in Manila on Sunday to demand swift prosecution of lawmakers, officials and contractors implicated in a sweeping corruption scandal involving flood-control projects.

Organizers held a major demonstration at the historic “people power” monument along EDSA, where police estimated about 5,000 protesters gathered by midday, many wearing white. A separate rally by left-wing groups in the capital’s main park called for the immediate resignation and prosecution of all officials tied to the controversy.

Authorities deployed more than 17,000 police officers across metropolitan Manila and placed the Malacañang presidential complex under tight security, blocking key roads and bridges with anti-riot units, trucks and barbed wire.

Protesters demanded that lawmakers, public-works officials and construction-company owners responsible for thousands of allegedly anomalous flood-control projects be jailed and ordered to return stolen public funds. Demonstrators pointed to lavish spending on private jets, luxury cars and mansions as evidence of illicit enrichment.

“If money is stolen, that’s a crime, but if dignity and lives are taken away, these are sins against fellow human beings, against the country but, most importantly, against God,” said the Rev. Flavie Villanueva, a Catholic priest who has supported families of victims of anti-drug operations. “Jail all the corrupt and jail all the killers.”

Since the president raised concerns about the flood-control anomalies in his state-of-the-nation address in July, at least seven public-works officers have been jailed on charges including illegal use of public funds linked to a single project. Authorities are also seeking executives of Sunwest Corp., a construction firm tied to that project.

On Friday, Henry Alcantara, a former government engineer who acknowledged his role during Senate inquiry hearings, returned 110 million pesos (about $1.9 million) in alleged kickbacks and said he would return more. The government says it has frozen roughly 12 billion pesos (about $206 million) in assets connected to suspects.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged that many of the at least 37 politicians and construction executives implicated in the probe will be jailed by Christmas, a promise that protesters said should be acted on more quickly.

Some demonstrators called on the military to withdraw support for the administration. The Armed Forces of the Philippines rejected those appeals, welcoming a statement by at least 88 mostly retired generals — including three former chiefs of staff — that condemned any call for unconstitutional military action and affirmed the armed forces as a pillar of stability and democracy.

The protests highlighted rising public anger over substandard or incomplete flood-control works in an archipelago long vulnerable to extreme tropical weather and deadly flooding. Demonstrators demanded concrete justice, asset recovery and reforms to prevent future corruption.

Contributors: Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila