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Asia Pacific|Protesters in Manila Accuse Government of Misusing Environmental Funds
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/world/asia/manila-philippines-rally-protest.html
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Demonstrations were set off by accusations that flood relief money was embezzled. They are part of a wave of discontent about economic inequality in several countries in Asia.
Sept. 21, 2025, 6:43 a.m. ET
Thousands of Filipinos filled the streets of Manila on Sunday to protest the government, which they accuse of misappropriating billions of dollars that were designated for flood relief projects.
The protest’s organizers called for the demonstrations after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed in July, during his 2025 State of the Nation address, that a number of flood-control projects he had previously announced as complete had been riddled with anomalies. Greenpeace, an environmental group, later estimated that about a trillion Philippine pesos, or $17.6 billion, that was supposed to help the country confront chronic and deadly flooding had been embezzled.
To address the issue, Mr. Marcos created an independent commission to probe the flood-control projects, and a Senate committee is conducting its own investigation. Both the Senate president and the House speaker have already been replaced as part of the fallout from the scandal, which follows years of infrastructure issues that have worsened as climate change exacerbates flooding.
Mr. Marcos has sought to align himself with the protesters. “Of course, they are angry,” he said last week. “I’m angry. We should all be angry. Because what’s happening is not right.”
The demonstrations came amid a wave of discontentment in parts of South and Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, thousands of protesters turned out daily for more than a week at the end of August, calling for the nation’s lawmakers to reduce lavish spending at a time of economic hardship. And in Nepal, deadly protests this month against a social media ban and economic inequality ended with the government’s collapse and much of the capital going up in flames.
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