Thousands of people gathered in Manila on Sunday for the start of a three-day rally called by a religious group to demand accountability over a flood-control corruption scandal involving powerful Philippine lawmakers and government officials.
It is the latest show of outrage over accusations of corruption in flood-control projects in one of the world's most typhoon-prone countries. A series of protests were held in recent months after it was discovered that thousands of flood defence projects in the country were substandard, incomplete or simply did not exist.
Government engineers, public works officials and construction company executives testified under oath in hearings by the national senate and a fact-finding commission that lawmakers and public works department officials took bribes from construction firms to help them receive lucrative contracts and avoid accountability. Most denied the allegations.
Police estimated that nearly 130,000 members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, had gathered in Manila's Rizal Park by mid-afternoon ahead of the rally, many wearing white and carrying anti-corruption placards.
Other groups were scheduled to hold a separate protest later in the day at the “People Power” monument in suburban Quezon city.
Iglesia is an influential group that votes as a bloc and is courted by politicians during elections.
Police, backed by the military, went on full alert and deployed thousands of personnel to secure the weekend rallies, although the government expected them to be peaceful, according to a confidential security assessment seen by the Associated Press.
During a 21 September anti-corruption demonstration, a few hundred black-clad protesters threw rocks, bottles, and firebombs at policemen near the presidential palace in Manila, injuring over 100 officers. Criminal complaints were subsequently filed against 97 protesters.
The presidential palace went on security lockdown over the weekend, with all major access roads barricaded by anti-riot police, cargo containers, and barbed wires.
National police chief Lt Gen Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr ordered law enforcement to exercise “maximum tolerance” at Sunday's rallies.
Flood control is an especially sensitive issue in the Philippines, one of the countries most prone to deadly typhoons, flooding and extreme weather.
Two typhoons left at least 259 people dead this month, mostly from flash floods and landslides, and forced millions to evacuate.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been trying to quell public outrage and street protests sparked by the scandal, saying last week that many of the lawmakers and wealthy businesspeople implicated would be in jail by Christmas.
Marcos said an independent fact-finding commission that he created had already filed criminal complaints for graft and corruption and plunder against 37 suspects.
Criminal complaints had also been filed against 86 construction company executives and nine government officials for allegedly evading almost 9 billion pesos (£116m) in taxes.
Among the accused are lawmakers opposed to and allied with Mr Marcos, including former House of Representatives speaker Martin Romualdez, the president's cousin and a key ally, and former Senate president Chiz Escudero. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Senator Bong Go, a key ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is also accused of involvement in the scandal and denied the allegations.
Mr Duterte, a harsh critic of Mr Marcos, was detained by the International Criminal Court in the Hague in March for alleged crimes against humanity over his anti-drugs crackdowns.
Mr Duterte’s daughter, the current vice president, argued that Mr Marcos should also be held accountable and jailed for approving the 2025 budget, which set aside billions for flood control projects.
There have been isolated calls, including by some supporters of Mr Duterte, for the military to withdraw support from Mr Marcos, but Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen Romeo Brawner Jr has rejected those calls.
“With full conviction, I assure the public that the armed forces will not engage in any action that violates the constitution,” he said. “Not today, not tomorrow and certainly not under my watch.”
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