Thousands in Philippines protest corruption, demand return of stolen funds

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7840x5227+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0c%2F1b%2F002f377b4eeb8f16ef763f733792%2Fap25334272792381.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7840x5227+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0c%2F1b%2F002f377b4eeb8f16ef763f733792%2Fap25334272792381.jpg" class="img" alt="Protesters destroy an effigy of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during an anti-corruption rally in Manila, Philippines on, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025." fetchpriority="high"/> Protesters destroy an effigy of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. throughout an anti-corruption rally in Manila, Philippines on, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. Aaron Favila/AP conceal caption

toggle caption

Aaron Favila/AP MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of demonstrators together with from the Roman Catholic church clergy protested within the Philippines on Sunday, calling for the swift prosecution of high legislators and officers implicated in a corruption scandal that has buffeted the Asian democracy.

Left-wing teams led a separate protest in Manila's important park with a blunt demand for all implicated authorities officers to instantly resign and face prosecution.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the huge corruption blamed for substandard, faulty or non-existent flood management initiatives throughout an archipelago lengthy liable to lethal flooding and excessive climate in tropical Asia.

Greater than 17,000 cops had been deployed in metropolitan Manila to safe the separate protests. The Malacanang presidential palace advanced in Manila was in a safety lockdown with key entry roads and bridges blocked by anti-riot police forces, vans and barbed wire railings.

In a deeply divided democracy the place two presidents have been individually overthrown within the final 39 years partly over allegations of plunder, there have been remoted requires the army to withdraw help from the Marcos administration.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has steadfastly rejected such calls and welcomed on Sunday a press release signed by no less than 88 principally retired generals, together with three army chiefs of workers, who mentioned they "strongly condemn and reject any name for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to have interaction in unconstitutional acts or army adventurism."

"The unified voice of our retired and energetic leaders reaffirms that the Armed Forces of the Philippines stays a pillar of stability and a steadfast guardian of democracy," the army mentioned in a press release.

Roman Catholic church buildings throughout the nation helped lead Sunday's anti-corruption protests of their districts, with the primary daylong rally being held at a pro-democracy "individuals energy" monument alongside EDSA freeway within the capital area. Police mentioned about 5,000 demonstrators principally carrying white joined earlier than midday.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x3333+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2F49%2F76c56d204b93a065e51699e03aab%2Fap25334099705073.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x3333+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2F49%2F76c56d204b93a065e51699e03aab%2Fap25334099705073.jpg" class="img" alt="Protesters shout slogans during anti-corruption protest in Manila, Philippines on Sunday Nov. 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Protesters shout slogans throughout anti-corruption protest in Manila, Philippines on Sunday Nov. 30, 2025. Aaron Favila/AP conceal caption

toggle caption

Aaron Favila/AP They demanded that members of Congress, officers and development firm homeowners behind 1000's of anomalous flood management initiatives lately be imprisoned and ordered to return the federal government funds they stole. A protester wore a shirt with a blunt message: "No mercy for the grasping."

"If cash is stolen, that is a criminal offense, but when dignity and lives are taken away, these are sins in opposition to fellow human beings, in opposition to the nation however, most significantly, in opposition to God," mentioned the Rev. Flavie Villanueva, a Catholic priest, who has helped many households of impoverished drug suspects killed underneath former President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdowns.

"Jail all of the corrupt and jail all of the killers," Villanueva advised the group of protesters.

Since Marcos first raised alarm over the flood management anomalies in his state of the nation tackle earlier than Congress in July, no less than seven public works officers have been jailed for unlawful use of public funds and different graft expenses in a single flood management undertaking anomaly alone. Executives of Sunwest Corp., a development agency concerned within the undertaking, had been being sought.

On Friday, Henry Alcantara, a former authorities engineer who has acknowledged underneath oath in Senate inquiry hearings his involvement within the anomalies, returned 110 million pesos ($1.9 million) in kickbacks that justice officers mentioned he stole and promised to return extra in just a few weeks.

About 12 billion pesos ($206 million) value of property of suspects in flood management anomalies have been frozen by authorities, Marcos mentioned.

Marcos has pledged that a lot of no less than 37 highly effective senators, members of Congress and rich development executives implicated within the corruption scandal can be in jail by Christmas.

Protesters in Sunday's rallies mentioned many extra officers, together with implicated senators and Home of Representatives members, must be jailed sooner and ordered to return the funds they stole and used to finance fleets of personal jets and luxurious vehicles, mansions and indulgent existence.