 "Thousands protest in Philippines against massive corruption scandal, calls for prosecution of mass officials")
Thousands of demonstrators protested in the Philippines on Sunday against the working of the government and calling for swift prosecution of top officials and higher legislators for being involved in the corruption scandal.
Left-wing activists protested in Manila’s main park asking for the resignation of government officials and face death sentence that affected the entire Asian democracy.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been advocating to end the public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or non-existent flood control projects across an archipelago long prone to deadly flooding and extreme weather in tropical Asia.
Police deployed for safety
Almost 17,000 police officers were deployed in metropolitan Manila to stop the protest and ensure safety within the region. In a democratic country two Presidents recently were completely overthrown in the last 39 years over the allegations of plunder.
Armed forces “pillar of stability”
There have been isolated calls for the military to withdraw support from the Marcos administration. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has steadfastly rejected such calls and welcomed on Sunday a statement signed by at least 88 mostly retired generals, including three military chiefs of staff, who said they “strongly condemn and reject any call for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to engage in unconstitutional acts or military adventurism.”
“The unified voice of our retired and active leaders reaffirms that the Armed Forces of the Philippines remains a pillar of stability and a steadfast guardian of democracy,” the military said in a statement.
Roman Catholic churches actively participated
The Roman Catholic clerics also actively participated in the protest and the Catholic churches across the country helped to lead an anti-corruption protest on Sunday. Police said about 5,000 demonstrators, mostly wearing white joined before noon.
The people demanded that members of Congress, officials and construction company owners behind thousands of anomalous flood control projects be imprisoned and ordered to return the government funds that they stole in the name of protest.
At least seven public workers have been imprisoned for illegal use of public funds and other graft charges in one flood control project alone.
Protesters said that the money stolen should be returned soon and the officials should be jailed for their plunder. Marcos also assured that many of at least 37 powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy construction executives implicated in the corruption scandal would be in jail by Christmas.
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