MANILA — Tens of thousands of Filipinos filled the streets of the capital on Sunday, pressing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to step down as anger swells over a sweeping public-works scandal that has shaken the government and sharpened long-standing frustrations over corruption.
The march, organized by the People’s Movement Against Corruption, converged at Luneta Park before pushing toward the Malacañang Palace, where police had erected an elaborate chain of barricades — barbed wire, steel fencing, and container vans — to keep demonstrators at bay. Organizers estimated more than 20,000 people attended.
Protesters carried signs reading “Marcos Resign” and hoisted a towering effigy of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte as crocodiles — a familiar symbol of greed in Filipino political satire. The effigy was later torn apart near the barricades as crowds chanted, “Jail all the corrupt!”
The unrest follows the eruption of what has become known as the “Trillion-Peso” scandal. Lawmakers and officials close to Marcos are accused of steering enormous sums toward flood-control projects that were either poorly built, riddled with irregularities, or never constructed at all.
Public fury intensified after two recent typhoons left more than 250 people dead, with critics arguing that the devastation underscored the consequences of hollowed-out infrastructure budgets. Two cabinet ministers have already stepped down over the controversy.
Further inflaming tensions were allegations by former congressman Zaldy Co — now a fugitive abroad — that Marcos personally ordered billions of pesos in questionable budget insertions and received vast sums in kickbacks. Marcos has dismissed the claims, saying they will “mean something” only if Co returns to face investigators.
For many protesters, the scandal is only the latest rupture in a long chain of grievances. Among those marching was 21-year-old Matt Wovi Villanueva, who said he was arrested and beaten during a similar protest in September. “We have even more reasons to return to the streets now,” he said. “They keep treating us like fools.”
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A separate march along EDSA, backed by the Catholic Church and mainstream opposition groups, focused its demands on Vice President Duterte, who faces her own questions over public spending.
Still, for activists like Raymond Palatino of the New Patriotic Alliance, responsibility sits squarely with the president. “He acts surprised by corruption,” Palatino said, “but he drafted and approved a budget loaded with pork and political favors.”
