Philippine flood control scandal: mass protests against corruption as fury mounts

Filipinos condemned the corruption in sham projects as an estimated US$2 billion in funds went down the drain

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Protesters scuffle with anti-riot police in Manila on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:43am, 21 Sep 2025Updated: 12:05pm, 22 Sep 2025

Thousands of Filipinos gathered on Sunday in Manila to express their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

Rage over the so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been mounting in the Southeast Asian country since President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr put them centre stage in a July state of the nation address that followed weeks of deadly flooding.

On Monday, Marcos said he did not blame people for protesting “one bit” while calling for demonstrations to remain peaceful. The army has been placed on “red alert” as a precaution.

“There were times I personally waded through floods,” Aly Villahermosa, a 23-year-old nursing student from Metro Manila said, as an estimated crowd of 50,000 gathered on Sunday in the capital’s Luneta Park.

“If there’s a budget for ghost projects, then why is there no budget for the health sector?” she said, calling the theft of public funds “truly shameful.”

Protesters covered in mud at a rally in Manila on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Teddy Casino, 56, chairman of the left-wing alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said the group was demanding not only the return of stolen funds but also prison time for those involved.

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