After Indonesia, Nepal - Is The Philippines Next To Erupt?

On Monday, Marcos said his administration would not pre-emptively block the protests despite concerns they could morph into major firestorms. Referring to the corruption allegations, Marcos said on Monday that an angry electorate would not be satiated“if we don't do anything about it.”

“You have to remember I brought this up, and it is my interest that we find the solution to what has become a very egregious problem. And since this has all been exposed, well, it's actually known to many people, but it has now been exposed to the general public,” Marcos said.

“Do you blame them for going out into the streets? If I wasn't president, I might be out in the streets with them. So, you know, of course, they are enraged. Of course, they are angry. I am angry. We should all be angry because what's happening is not right,” the president said.

“So, yes, express it. You come, you make your feelings known to these people and make them answerable for the wrongdoings that they have done.” He said while police are duty-bound to uphold law and order, he, for one, would not blame the public“not one bit” for expressing their anger over the corruption allegations.

Marcos' new three-member commission will be empowered to summon government officials as well as recommend the filing of criminal charges. On Monday, he named former Court of Appeals Justice Andres Reyes as head of the commission.

He will be working closely with Rogelio Singson, a former public works secretary, who the president said has a“very good idea of, shall we say, where the bodies are buried” in referring to the anomalous contracts.

They will work with an independent audit firm and get input from former police general Benjamin Magalong, now a mayor in the north of the country who has closely followed corruption investigations.

Last month, Marcos disclosed the results of an internal audit into flood control projects that revealed troubling patterns of irregularity. That prompted calls for action from business and civil society groups outraged by what they have described as gross corruption.

Key findings showed that out of 545 billion pesos ($9.54 billion) of spending on flood control since 2022, thousands of projects were either substandard, poorly documented or even in some cases non-existent.

Some recorded identical costs even though they were in different locations, and 15 out of more than 2,000 accredited contractors were able to corner 20% of the total budget.

The controversy has already led to the resignation of the public works secretary, and his successor has suspended all bidding for locally-funded flood control projects, ordered courtesy resignations of all public works officials and vowed to permanently blacklist contractors involved in fraudulent projects.

Marcos said on Monday the commission will be“completely independent”, noting that investigations by the Senate and House of Representatives were a bit compromised with certain lawmakers allegedly involved, bringing their independence on the issues into question.

“I would like to stress this over and over again. It is an independent commission and that is why we have taken great pains to make sure that that independence is respected, recognized and observed,” Marcos said, stressing that its members had“no ties to any part of government.”

“We are trying to move as quickly as possible. In the meantime, of course, our attention continues to be directed to the work of the government,” Marcos said.

Amid the controversy, the national defense department and military issued statements last week warning of“politically motivated attempts” from groups that were not identified to distract the military and take advantage of the situation. The statements did not elaborate on the supposed threats.

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The military remains a“non-partisan organization,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and military chief General Romeo Brawner said in a joint statement on September 12.

“We reject all attempts to patronize the AFP by certain groups that insinuate or suggest unconstitutional, unilateral interventions by the former,” they said, referring to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.“The AFP abides by the constitution through the Chain of Command.”

“The strength of our Republic rests on the rule of law and the unity of our people. At this crucial time, we call on every Filipino to place their trust in our democratic institutions, to respect our processes and to work together in the spirit of patriotism. True and lasting change can only come through peaceful, lawful and democratic means,” the officials said.

Massive protests have previously upended Philippine politics. Apart from Marcos in 1986, former president Joseph Estrada was removed from office amid massive protests that erupted after his impeachment trial over corruption ended in a farce in the Senate in 2001.

Rodrigo Duterte was the target of frequent mass protests, including over his drug war, but was never seriously destabilized by street actions.

Jason Gutierrez was head of Philippine news at BenarNews, an online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia (RFA), a Washington-based news organization that covered many under-reported countries in the region. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has also worked with The New York Times and Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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