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Revealed On 21 Sep 2025
1000’s marched in Manila to vent their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control tasks believed to have value taxpayers billions of {dollars}.
Rage over the so-called “ghost infrastructure” tasks has been mounting within the Southeast Asian nation since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr put them centre stage in a July State of the Nation deal with that adopted weeks of lethal flooding.
Marcos stated final week that he didn’t blame individuals for protesting “one bit”, whereas calling for demonstrations to stay peaceable.
Sunday’s protests had been largely peaceable, with small teams of principally younger males throwing rocks and bottles at police, and setting hearth to the tyres of a trailer used as a barricade close to a bridge resulting in the presidential palace.
In keeping with the AFP information company, some police picked up rocks and threw them again at demonstrators.
Police advancing behind a wall of shields arrested 17, principally younger, individuals in a single encounter, native authorities stated.
Barely an hour later, a second conflict noticed police use water cannon on one other group of masked protesters.
It was not instantly clear if these concerned had any connection to the organised protests.
The day started with a peaceable morning protest within the capital’s Luneta Park that drew almost 50,000 individuals, in keeping with metropolis estimates.
1000’s extra joined a day demonstration on the capital’s EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) thoroughfare, floor zero for the 1986 motion that ousted Marcos’s dictator father.
Teddy On line casino, 56, chairman of the left-wing alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, stated the group was demanding not solely the return of stolen funds but in addition jail time for these concerned.
The Division of Finance has estimated that the Philippine economic system misplaced as much as 118.5 billion pesos ($2bn) from 2023 to 2025 resulting from corruption in flood-control tasks.
Greenpeace has steered the quantity is definitely nearer to $18bn.
Earlier this month, the homeowners of a building agency accused almost 30 Home members and Division of Public Works and Highways officers of taking money funds.
The scandal has already led to management adjustments in each homes of Congress, with Home Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Marcos, tendering his resignation earlier this week as an investigation bought beneath means.
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