© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Since August, reports and inquiries about large-scale corruption in the award of public contracts have taken centre stage in the Philippines. Protests have been held in and around the capital Manila in recent days, with black-clad demonstrators throwing rocks and firebombs at anti-riot police on Sunday (September 21).
More than 200 people were arrested, with around 100 law enforcers injured, according to the Associated Press. A South China Morning Post report quoted official police estimates as saying that at least 61,000 people attended the protests on Sunday.
An unlikely target of the public’s frustration has been the children of government officials and contractors, who are alleged to have benefited from corruption and made lavish displays of their wealth on social media accounts.
The upheaval follows similar protests in Nepal around a fortnight ago, driven by a sense of inequality and unfairness concerning the political elites, and in Indonesia a few weeks ago. Here is what to know.
The immediate trigger was the heavy monsoon rains earlier this year, which fuelled allegations of government mismanagement. Specifically, the failure of flood control projects drew the ire of the people, as President Marcos “Bongbong” Jr had earlier claimed that over 5,500 such projects were completed last year to prevent flooding.
Subsequent inquiries showed that many “ghost projects” were undertaken, present only on paper. Many others were of substandard quality, with the money siphoned off by contractors, middlemen and public officials. Since 2022, when Marcos came to power, 545 billion pesos ($9.54 billion) have been spent on flood control.
What makes the mix of corruption and such projects worse is that the Philippines is among the poorer nations in Southeast Asia. Its per capita GDP stood at around $4,000 as of 2024, while the global average is $13,673. Income inequality also remains a concern, with the pandemic worsening employment prospects. Additionally, its location makes it more susceptible to storms and cyclones, with at least 20 such incidents happening annually. At present, too, Typhoon Ragasa has caused several deaths in the country.
What has been the fallout?
The issue has been discussed in Parliament, and on September 11, Marcos announced a three-member commission to investigate corruption in infrastructure projects, with a special focus on flood-related plans.
Two senators were alleged to have been involved, even as they denied allegations made by a former engineer of the public works department. In another inquiry, two construction company owners identified at least 17 legislators who allegedly demanded and received huge kickbacks from them. The public works secretary has also resigned.
And why are ‘nepo babies’ now in focus?
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said in a press conference on Wednesday that an internal investigation found 10 regional officials and engineers in his department who either have “lavish lifestyles beyond their means,” even travelling in private jets, or were implicated in infrastructure anomalies.
Before Filipinos took to the streets, there was a palpable sense of anger online towards those who supposedly got rich thanks to the irregularities. The social media accounts of the children of such people came under the radar, with people criticising and mocking their luxurious lifestyles on Reddit and other social media sites.
This is in line with similar trends elsewhere, including in Nepal, as inequality has risen and social media has allowed a peek into the lives of the rich and the elite.
What happens next?
Interestingly, Marcos himself lent support to protestors, assuring them that the investigations would spare no one. “If I weren’t president, I might be out in the streets with them,” he said, while urging people to protest peacefully. “Express it,” he said. “You make your feelings known to these people and make them answerable for the wrongdoings that they have done.”
However, the Philippines has a long history of those in power becoming deeply entangled with corruption and seizing power. Marcos’s father, Ferdinand Marcos, was President from 1965 to 1986 and is believed to have stolen around $10 billion from the public during his reign. Marcos Jr’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, was charged with Crimes Against Humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) just this week.
His daughter Sara Duterte is the current Vice-President, despite several disagreements with Marcos Jr and an all-out feud breaking out between them a few months ago. Some see her attempting to shore up support for herself amid the ongoing protests. Again, there are parallels to Nepal in the public frustration over the same set of elites holding onto power for years.
In this context, the latest scandal has provided an impetus for a call for change, but it is unclear what happens next. There are demands for a better-functioning system as a whole, but so far, there have been no major invocations for regime change.
Unlike Nepal, the protests have also not spiralled in terms of the scale of violence. The Philippines’ Southeast Asian neighbour, Indonesia, saw protests in August as well, over unemployment and inequality. They have now reached a more subdued stage in the face of a government that has cracked down on protestors.
(With agency inputs)
