Thousands of protesters marched in the Philippines on Sunday demanding that the government take tough action against officials involved in a billion-dollar infrastructure scam.
One of these protests was led by leftist groups in the capital, Manila, calling for the immediate resignation and prosecution of all implicated government officials.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been struggling to quell months of public anger over widespread corruption in flood control projects in the archipelago long prone to deadly floods.
Eight members of the country’s Department of Public Works and Highways were arrested just days earlier, while the government promised that “bigger fish are coming soon.”
‘Put them in jail!’
Roman Catholic churches across the country helped lead anti-corruption protests in their districts on Sunday, with the main day-long rally held at the pro-democracy “People’s Power” monument along EDSA Highway in the capital region.
A security force of approximately 17,000 police officers was deployed to control crowds in Manila during the protests. According to police, around 5,000 protesters, mostly wearing white, joined the demonstration.
In the capital’s Luneta Park, a stone’s throw from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, protesters were seen carrying crocodile-shaped signs demanding an end to systemic corruption.
“There are people who died because of corruption,” 20-year-old drag artist Jessie Wanaluwami J told news agency AFP ahead of her scheduled performance.
The Philippines has a long history of scandals involving public funds, and since July, when the issue of scandal was first raised by Marcos, at least seven public works officials have been jailed for illegal use of public funds and other corruption charges in just one flood control project anomaly.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery