MANILA, Philippines – Thousands of people gathered in the Philippine capital Manila to demand the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over a corruption scandal related to government spending on flood control infrastructure.
The march, organized by the Kilsan Bayan Kontra Krakot or People’s Movement Against Corruption (KBKK), began Sunday in Manila’s Luneta National Park, where protesters marched to the presidential palace.
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This is the latest manifestation of public anger over the “trillion pesos” scandal in which powerful politicians, including allies of Marcos, are accused of accepting billions of pesos in bribes for flood control infrastructure contracts that ended up being defective or never built.
The massive damage caused by two recent powerful typhoons has left more than 250 people dead, spurring public anger.
Two cabinet ministers have resigned over the scandal, while Zaldi Company, a former lawmaker accused in the case, claims Mr Marcos directed him to add $1.7 billion to the budget for “questionable public works” while he was chairman of the appropriations committee.
The president denied the allegations.
Participants in Sunday’s protest included 21-year-old student Matt Wovi Villanueva, who also took part in a similar protest at the presidential palace in September. The protests turned violent, and police arrested around 300 people.
Villanueva said he was beaten and detained for five days at the time.
“Compared to September, there are now more reasons to return to the streets,” Villanueva told Al Jazeera. “They continue to treat us like fools. If we want true justice, we need Marcos and him.” [Vice President Sara] Duterte should resign. ”
Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who had a falling out with Marcos, is facing other allegations over the misuse of government funds.
Meanwhile, mainstream rebels backed by the Catholic Church organized another “1 trillion peso march” along historic EDSA Avenue. The group said it was only urging Duterte to resign pending more concrete evidence of criminal activity by Marcos.
Earlier this month, Mr. Co, a former lawmaker, claimed that Mr. Marcos had received more than 50 billion pesos ($852 million) in kickbacks from infrastructure projects starting in 2022, and ordered the 2025 budget to include 100 billion pesos ($1.7 billion) in so-called “ghost projects.”
Mr. Co also claimed that in 2024, he personally delivered a suitcase containing 1 billion pesos (US$17 million) in cash to the Marcos residence.
Mr. Koh himself is accused of embezzling billions of dollars from similar projects and has been on the run since July, with his last known residence in Japan.
“Anyone can go online and make any kind of claim,” Marcos responded.
“For it to mean anything, he should come home,” the president added.
Regardless of Ko’s accusations, Raymond Palatino of Bagong Alyansan Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance), or Bayan, one of the KBKK groups, said the president bears undeniable responsibility for corrupt public spending.
“He pretends to be surprised at the extent of corruption, but he drafted, signed and executed a budget that was rife with pork barrel projects and unusual insertions,” Palatino told Al Jazeera.
Mr. Palatino said Mr. Marcos and Mr. Duterte must resign “so that we can begin to repair and rebuild the country.”
After their removal, it prompted the creation of a civilian-led transition council, a temporary body to guide the country toward political renewal.
However, Presidential Spokesperson Claire Castro dismissed the calls for the president’s removal, saying they were unconstitutional and came from “vested interests.”
Marcos sounded the alarm about the scandal in his State of the Union address to Congress in July. In September, it established the Independent Infrastructure Commission (ICI), tasked with investigating officials involved in corruption.
Some 9,855 flood control projects worth more than P545 billion ($9 billion) are under study.
The Senate and House of Representatives also held their own hearings on the case.
The finance secretary told lawmakers in September that up to 118.5 billion pesos ($2 billion) spent on flood control projects from 2023 onwards could have been lost to corruption.
Those suspected of involvement include Marcos’ cousin and key ally Martín Romualdez, who has denied involvement but resigned as speaker of the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the ICI has yet to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing by the president.
“The ICI investigation does not exempt him from accusations of wrongdoing,” said Sol Iglesias, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.
She said the “Marcos government has lost its credibility” following the September protests and police crackdown.
“You can imagine that the president’s hands are clean, but we haven’t seen anything that amounts to a smoke bomb yet,” Iglesias told Al Jazeera.
