More than half a million Filipinos rallied in the capital Manila on Sunday to demand accountability for a government corruption scandal that has sparked a series of protests since August.
Sunday’s protest is part of a three-day rally organized by the Philippine sect Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ). Sunday’s use of force by the influential religious bloc, commonly referred to by the acronym INC, is a complete reversal from the party’s support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2022 presidential election.
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At the heart of the ongoing protests is the church’s demand for a “proper and transparent” investigation into allegations that billions of dollars were diverted to flood control projects under Mr. Marcos’s watch.
But it also exposes the escalating struggle for political power between Marcos and his former ally and running mate Sara Duterte, who continues to be supported by religious groups. Marcos and Duterte had a dramatic falling out just months after their landslide victory.
The corruption scandal has only further fueled a political feud between the country’s two top elected leaders, leading to calls for Mr Marcos to be removed from office before his term ends in 2028.
The campaign is being led by Duterte’s supporters as well as some members of the INC and other groups. Although the INC claims it is not participating in calls for Marcos’ ouster, the presence of members on the streets of Manila means they are a formidable force.
Why are people protesting in the Philippines?
Anger over so-called ghost infrastructure and flood control projects has been growing in the Southeast Asian country since Mr Marcos put the issue center stage in his State of the Nation address in July following weeks of deadly flooding.
Government engineers, public works officials, and construction company executives testified under oath in Congressional hearings that members of Congress and public works officials received kickbacks from construction companies to manipulate the bidding process and win favorable contracts.
According to government data, the equivalent of $26 billion has been spent on flood control and mitigation programs over the past 15 years. At least 25% to 30% of that money was funneled in as kickbacks, officials testified.
So far, the government has been able to freeze only $3 billion in assets suspected of being connected to the massive bribery scheme.
A series of televised investigations and parliamentary hearings detailing corruption allegations further heightened public anger.
Many criticize the government for acting too slowly to stop corruption, even if they do not condone the deals made by Marcos’ political allies, including his cousin and former leader Martín Romualdez.
Last week, Mr. Romualdez’s deputy, a former congressman who fled the country after being implicated in the loss of millions of dollars in infrastructure funds, released a video implicating Mr. Marcos himself, a claim the administration derided as “wild speculation.”
What happened to the flood damage?
Sunday’s protests come on the heels of two powerful typhoons that have killed more than 250 people, many of them due to flooding and failure of flood control infrastructure.
They also came days after Marcos promised arrests in corruption cases before Christmas.
What is INC?
INC, which has approximately 3 million members, was founded in the Philippines in 1914 by Felix Manalo, a former devout Catholic who converted to Methodism.
In contrast, the powerful Catholic Church has an estimated 86 million members.
Unlike mainstream religious groups, which adhere to the principle of separation of church and state, INC supports candidates during elections and encourages members to vote as a bloc, making it a powerful political force.
He supported the Marcos-Duterte tandem in the 2022 elections. In 2016, the party leadership supported Rodrigo Duterte before he won.
When the Marcos-Duterte alliance collapsed, INC stood by Duterte.
In January of this year, the INC held a large rally in Manila to oppose the impeachment of Vice President Duterte, and it was seen as having the silent support of Mr. Marcos.
During the nearly 20-year reign of Marcos’ father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the INC was also seen as a supporter of his presidency.
Despite political differences, Mr. Marcos declared a special non-working holiday to celebrate INC’s 111th anniversary on July 27, 2025, demonstrating what observers have noted is the group’s enormous political influence.
“The influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is not losing,” political analyst Alex Magno wrote in a recent column for the Philippine Star.
What are the demands of the INC-led protests?
The INC-led protests are scheduled for three days, from Sunday 16 November to Tuesday 18 November, and are demanding a “proper and transparent” investigation into the corruption scandal and a “better democracy”.
“A lot of people are being flooded because of corruption, and there are deaths as a result,” one protester, Edwina Kamatoy, told Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Law reporting from Manila.
Another protester, Aries Cortés, complained that the government’s investigations so far have been selective and have “not achieved anything.”
The protest is being held at the Quirino Grandstand along Manila Bay in the Philippine capital.
An estimated 300,000 protesters had gathered in the park as of 8 a.m. (Japan time) on Monday, the second day of protests, according to Manila’s Office of Risk Reduction and Management.
The Philippine National Police announced Sunday that it would deploy at least 15,000 personnel during the protests.
The protesters insist they are not calling for Mr. Marcos’ ouster. However, many executives have openly expressed disdain for President Marcos’ tenure, especially after former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the ICC.
Who are the other groups currently protesting against Marcos?
About 2,000 people, including retired generals, staged another anti-corruption protest late Sunday at the “People Power” monument on the outskirts of Quezon City.
A small group of demonstrators, many of whom are said to be Duterte supporters, are calling for Marcos’ complete resignation from the presidency.
Up to 30,000 anti-Marcos protesters are expected to gather at the scene Monday afternoon, police said. However, as of 8 a.m. GMT on Monday, only 3,000 protesters had gathered, according to TV channel News 5.
Center-left political blocs and their civil and religious allies openly absented themselves from the rally, fearing it would only lead to Mr. Duterte’s return to power.
On Sunday, they held another “anti-corruption” protest at the University of the Philippines. Their group also holds a small march every Friday.
Previous protests in September also drew hundreds of thousands of protesters, but were led primarily by a center-left bloc calling itself the “1 Trillion Pesos March Movement”.
Another small group of protesters also held their own march near the presidential palace that day, leading to a heavy police crackdown that left at least one person dead, several injured and dozens arrested.
The Catholic Church has also issued statements in recent days calling for government transparency, but warning against “unconstitutional” means of achieving justice.
How is the government responding to the protests?
In a radio interview on Monday, Presidential Press Secretary Dave Gomez dismissed those calling for Mr. Marcos’ resignation as a “very small group,” adding that those calling for the president’s resignation were likely involved in an ongoing investigation.
Gomez also said the government is monitoring those who seek to destabilize the country.
He dismissed recent claims by former congressman Zaldy Koh that directly implicated the president in the bribery scandal.
“As the president said, he will not even try to honor the accusations,” Gomez added, noting that there are “numerous loopholes” in the accusations.
Late Monday, the palace announced that Mr. Marcos’ chief executive and budget chief had resigned over their alleged involvement in a bribery scandal.
What impact will it have on the Marcos Jr. administration?
Filipinos are united in their anger against the Marcos regime, but are sharply divided on calls for the president’s removal from office.
Some fear that Vice President Sara Duterte’s takeover won’t lead to substantive change, given that she also faces corruption allegations.
However, there were major philosophical differences between the two opposition groups, and they were unable to unite against Marcos. Center-leftists often emerge more fiercely anti-Duterte than anti-Marcos, sometimes putting them in politically awkward positions.
In a statement ahead of the INC-led protests, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Chief of Staff Romeo Browner Jr. also vowed that the military would not support any efforts to subvert the constitution, and that Mr. Marcos’ removal from office was unlikely.
What’s next?
Meanwhile, the so-called Trillion Pesos March Movement, which organized the Sept. 21 anti-corruption rally in Manila, announced it would hold its own rally on Nov. 30.
The group said it aimed to “turn a prayer meeting into a movement” to prosecute all those involved in the ongoing corruption scandal.
The group is seen as a defender of the 1987 constitution, which helped pave the way for the restoration of democracy in the country of more than 110 million people.
