Filipinos push back as flood control scandal sparks fresh protest wave

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

BJ I. MABINI didn’t plan on joining a street protest. But when he saw videos of politicians’ relatives flaunting designer bags and luxury cars online — days after headlines warned that billions of pesos meant for flood control had vanished — he said he had reached his limit.

So on a sweltering afternoon in September, the 35-year-old freelance video director covered his face with a balaclava, pulled on a black shirt and found himself among thousands gathered at Manila’s Luneta Park. The crowd stood behind a flag showing a skull wearing a straw hat taken from the popular Japanese animé “One Piece,” a symbol that spread across social media as anger over the scandal grew.

“We’re tired of this kind of system,” he said in Filipino. “So many people are suffering. So many Filipinos are struggling.”

What pushed him into the streets, he said, was the sense that corruption had become too big to ignore. “If this doesn’t wake people up, what will?”

His frustration reflects a mood that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has sought to contain as he confronts what may be the biggest crisis of his two-year administration: a multibillion-peso scandal involving hundreds of flood control projects that the government said were substandard, poorly documented or did not exist at all.

Mr. Marcos has tried to reassure the public by promising jail time for those involved before Christmas. Last week, he announced arrest warrants for a former congressional leader and several others linked to an anomalous public works deal in Bulacan, north of the capital.

He earlier flagged about P545 billion in flood control spending since 2022, saying about P100 billion in contracts went to only 15 contractors, including companies tied to political clans.

“So much money was lost,” Mr. Mabini said. “It’s about time we wake up as to how the system plays us.”

Corruption is a familiar story in the Philippines, but this one cuts deeper. The country is among the world’s most disaster-prone, with storms and monsoon rains routinely inundating towns and cities. Many Filipinos are now asking why immense spending on drainage, waterways and dikes has failed to ease frequent flooding.

The scandal resonated because the alleged theft is visible in daily life, said Athena Charanne R. Presto, who teaches social inequalities and development at the Australian National University.

“People can see what was bought using the supposed people’s money, compounded by the fact that the Philippines is submerged in floods,” she told BusinessWorld. “And it’s further compounded by the way families of officials flaunt it all online as if they feel no shame.”

The outrage has placed the Philippines within a broader wave of political unrest spreading across Asia. In Indonesia, public anger over lawmakers’ housing perks led to violent clashes, culminating in the death of a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver after a police vehicle hit him.

In Nepal, youth-led protests over social media restrictions forced the government to resign, while in Bangladesh, rallies against job quotas spiraled into a nationwide uprising that drove out the prime minister.

MASS UPHEAVAL
The Philippine movement shares some of the same elements seen in those countries — strong youth participation, widespread frustration and online mobilization — yet analysts doubt it will escalate into mass unrest.

“It is more costly for civil society groups protesting against the corruption scandal to resort to violence because it may be used and weaponized by various groups against them,” Bubbles Beverly N. Asor, a behavioral science professor at De La Salle University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “Mass protest violence will further create tensions, factions and divisiveness in an already divided society.”

Fears briefly rose in September when some masked protesters clashed with police near the presidential palace after the main Luneta rally. Organizers disowned the incident, and no widespread unrest followed.

Ms. Asor said mass violence rarely erupts by design. “It is a complex situation that emerges from the interaction between protesters and authorities rather than a planned violence,” she said. Groups, she added, try to maintain “internal discipline” to prevent actions that could undermine their objectives.

Francis A. Gealogo, a history professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said today’s grievances echo those that motivated past uprisings.

“What we are seeing now is a continuation of this threat of protest actions against state corruption, bureaucrat capitalism, foreign intervention and unequal social relations,” he said. The enormity of the controversy, he added, is likely to fuel more demonstrations.

Still, public anger faces obstacles because corruption in the Philippines is deeply embedded, said John Lee Candelaria, an assistant professor at Hiroshima University in Japan.

“Corruption functions as both a visible problem, centering on specific scandals, and a systemic issue — institutional cultures and patronage networks that span administrations,” he said. That dual nature, he added, makes the issue “easier because specific cases generate immediate outrage; harder because the solutions require transforming deeply embedded practices and power structure.”

Corruption has shaped Philippine political and economic life for decades, affecting procurement, infrastructure projects and relationships between local and national officials. That breadth makes quick fixes unlikely.

“We cannot expect real solutions to issues when the ones supposed to solve the problems are the source of the problem themselves,” Mr. Candelaria said.

ECHOES OF EDSA
Many analysts see parallels between today’s protests and the 1986 People Power uprising that toppled the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., father and namesake of the incumbent president.

“The peaceful approach to rallies has a ‘People Power’ mark in it,” said Ms. Asor. She noted that organizers have drawn support from universities, faith-based groups, civic associations and left-leaning organizations, similar to the coalition that demanded change almost four decades ago.

Micah Jeiel R. Perez, a history lecturer at the University of the Philippines, said People Power transformed the role of churches in political mobilization. The wave of protests now shows that influence returning. The Catholic Church has joined rallies, while the Iglesia ni Cristo staged a demonstration in mid-November that attracted more than half-a-million people.

“If you want to fight injustices but reject the violence of insurgency, Christianity-inspired civil society groups offer a viable option,” he said.

But an Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA)-style upheaval is far from certain. Today’s political climate is more fragmented, with divided loyalties and competing information ecosystems.

“There would need to be several earth-shattering political developments happening one after another during a time when the majority were already riled up and seeking change,” Mr. Perez said.

Mr. Candelaria said modern protests operate in a different media environment. Where earlier movements required slow coalition-building, today’s can ignite quickly through social networks — but may struggle to sustain momentum.

Mr. Gealogo said social media has made protests more creative and youth-driven, while Ms. Presto noted that online communities such as Reddit’s LifestyleCheckPH have become hubs for public scrutiny of politicians’ wealth.

But social media has pitfalls too, said Mr. Candelaria. Although it speeds coordination, “it also creates fragmentation,” complicating efforts to form broad alliances.

THE NEXT TEST
Thousands of protesters gathered again in the Philippine capital on Nov. 30 — a national holiday marking the birth of revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio — demanding Mr. Marcos’ resignation over the flood scam.

The rally started at the Luneta National Park in Manila, with protesters marching on to the presidential palace.

“Nov. 30 is about accountability,” said Renato M. Reyes, Jr., president of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. “We are not going to avoid the issue of the accountability of Mr. Marcos, of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, of all the top officials simply because it might be uncomfortable for some people.”

A resigned lawmaker who once headed the congressional committee overseeing the national budget has accused the President of involvement, while a reported coup plot by retired military officers fizzled without military backing.

The Vice-President, who would constitutionally succeed Mr. Marcos, is also facing corruption allegations tied to funds linked to her office and the Education department. She denies wrongdoing.

For the movement to grow, it needs clarity, said Arjan P. Aguirre, a political science lecturer at Ateneo. “The movement must have clear messaging,” he said by telephone. “They must already have demands.”

He said the Sept. 21 rally was emotional but lacked a defined agenda. “There should be demands directed at the government, and those demands must be met with bigger protests if unmet.”

Francis “Kiko” A. Dee, spokesman of anti-corruption group Trillion Peso March Movement, said the progress in cases against erring officials remains slow. He noted that while authorities have taken some action, those held to account so far have mostly been lower-level Public Works officials.

“What we want is to jail top officials,” he said in an interview on Sunday. “We haven’t seen this yet, and so our protests will continue. People’s anger is real. It’s not something we have to stoke. It’s there and we’re just giving people a space for it.”

Akbayan Party President Rafaela David pressed the government to file cases, jail perpetrators and advance reforms to prevent “present and future plunderers” from stealing public funds. She said transparency tools such as politicians’ wealth declarations should be used aggressively.

“Corruption thrives in the dark,” she told BusinessWorld via Facebook Messenger chat. “If people collectively pull the cover of impunity, we can build the momentum towards accountable and transparent governance.”

Ms. David warned that some groups might try to hijack protests to push for unconstitutional takeover schemes. “We must not let them instigate us to violence,” she said. “We must show citizens that there are multiple forms of peaceful protest.”

Joshua V. Barbo, a 25-year-old campaign manager at art‑activist group Dakila who joined the Nov. 30 protest, said he would continue attending anti‑corruption rallies until top officials implicated in the scandal are jailed.

“We are hopeful that people will get involved and join the protest because all of us are affected,” he said in an interview.