Thousands in Philippines protest corruption and demand return of stolen funds from flood projects
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators, including Roman Catholic church clergy, protested in the Philippines on Sunday, calling for the speedy prosecution of top lawmakers and officials implicated in a corruption scandal that has shaken Asian democracy.
Left-wing groups staged a separate protest in Manila’s main park, making a clear demand for the immediate resignation and prosecution of all government officials involved.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He was trying to silence public anger Massive corruption blamed for substandard, flawed or non-existent flood control projects on an archipelago long prone to flooding deadly flood And extreme weather in tropical Asia.
More than 17,000 police officers have been deployed in metropolitan Manila to secure separate protests. The Malacanang presidential palace complex in Manila was under a security blockade, with key access roads and bridges blocked by riot police, trucks and barbed wire guardrails.
In a deeply divided democracy two presidents In addition to individual oustings over the last 39 years, in part due to allegations of looting, there have also been isolated calls for the military to withdraw its support from the Marcos administration.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines have steadfastly rejected such calls and on Sunday welcomed a statement signed by at least 88 generals, mostly retired, including three chiefs of staff, saying they “strongly condemn and reject any call by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to engage in unconstitutional actions or military adventures.”
“The united voice of our retired and active leaders reaffirms that the Armed Forces of the Philippines remains a pillar of stability and a steadfast guardian of democracy,” the military said in a statement.
Roman Catholic churches across the country helped organize Sunday’s anti-corruption protests in their areas; The main day-long rally was held at the pro-democracy “people power” monument on the EDSA highway in the capital. About 5,000 demonstrators, most wearing white, had attended by noon, police said.
They demanded the imprisonment of members of Congress, officials and construction company owners behind thousands of anomalous flood control projects in recent years and an order to return the government funds they stole. One protester was wearing a shirt with a clear message: “No mercy for the greedy.”
“If money is stolen, it is a crime, but if honor and lives are taken, it is a sin against the people, against the country, but most importantly, against God,” he said. Pastor Flavie VillanuevaA Catholic priest who has helped many families of impoverished drug suspects killed under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown.
“Lock up all the corrupt and put all the murderers in jail,” Villanueva told the protesting crowd.
At least seven public works officials have been fired since Marcos first raised the alarm about flood control anomalies in his state of the nation address to Congress in July. in prison Just because of the illegal use of public funds and other corruption charges in a flood control project anomaly. Managers of Sunwest Corp., the construction company involved in the project, were wanted.
On Friday, Henry Alcantara, a former government engineer who admitted under oath at Senate investigative hearings to his involvement in the anomalies, returned 110 million pesos ($1.9 million) in kickbacks that justice officials said he stole and promised to return more within weeks.
Marcos said assets worth about 12 billion pesos ($206 million) of suspects in the flood control anomalies had been frozen by authorities.
Marcos has promised to imprison most of the at least 37 powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy construction executives involved in the corruption scandal until christmas.
At Sunday’s rallies, protesters said many more officials, including the aforementioned senators and members of the House of Representatives, should be jailed immediately and returned the funds they stole and used to finance private jets, fleets of luxury cars, mansions and extravagant lifestyles.
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Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila contributed to this report.
