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MANILA: Thousands of Filipinos rallied across main Philippine cities on Sunday to protest a growing scandal over fake flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

Over the past few weeks, investigators have uncovered massive corruption in flood prevention and mitigation projects. An audit ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. found last month that out of the 545 billion pesos ($9.54 billion) allocated to the projects since 2022, thousands of projects were found to be substandard, lacking proper documentation, or nonexistent.

Several powerful political figures have been implicated, according to ongoing House and Senate probes, igniting public outrage in one of the world’s most typhoon-vulnerable countries.

“The main objective of the mass action is to register the people’s anger with regard to the rampant corruption, the misuse of public funds, the fact that billions of pesos have ended up stolen by certain nefarious individuals with the connivance of certain government officials. That should be a cause for alarm,” Danilo Arao, journalism professor and convenor of election watchdog Kontra Daya, told Arab News at a main protest site in Luneta Park in the heart of Manila.

“Regardless of political ideology, it is important that people say that enough is enough and that we will not take this sitting down … What we’re trying to achieve is giving the government a wake-up call and that those who are involved should come out into the open. They should not hide behind their power and influence or whatever wealth they flex to the public.”

The protest was simultaneously taking place in several locations in Metro Manila, with thousands of people arriving to Luneta and to EDSA — the most important and busiest roads in the capital region.

“It shows the people are angry. People are united. People are coming from all walks of life, and everyone here is represented. This is more personal, not just political. Because it is a statement from the people that we are fed up,” said Roque Poblete, a business owner and member of a cooperative movement protesting in the EDSA area.

“It is important to show the government that all the people are united, to make some changes, not only in the government, but in the whole system.”

Anti-corruption rallies also took place in Cebu City — the second most important urban center after Metro Manila — in Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental, in Cagayan de Oro, the major gateway and economic hub in northern Mindanao, and in Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur in Mindanao’s south.

The rallies, which were endorsed by Marcos, coincided with the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law by his father and namesake. Every year, demonstrations are held on Sept. 21 to remember the abuses during the martial law period, demand justice, oppose repressive laws, corruption and rights violations.

Sunday’s protest was the biggest in a series of demonstrations that over the past weeks have been organized by civil society groups, Catholic church leaders, and anti-corruption watchdogs.

“We’re so tired of corruption, we’re so tired of those projects that we can’t see — those ghost projects. That’s why we are here, as seminarians, as members of the church, to fight for the rights of the people,” said Johnson Aban, a protesting seminarian.

“It’s really amazing that many people participated in this event, not just the people of the church, but also those in the civil society and other groups, even the youth participated. We hope that the government will be awakened with this kind of cry from the people.”

LONDON: Britain, Australia and Canada on Sunday recognized a Palestinian state in a seismic shift in decades of western foreign policy, triggering swift Israeli anger.
Portugal was also to recognize Palestinian statehood later Sunday, as Israel came under huge international pressure over the war in Gaza triggered almost two years ago by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognizes the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.

“Special burden”

The UK government has come under increasing public pressure to act, with thousands rallying every month on the streets. A poll released by YouGov on Friday showed two-thirds of young Britons aged 18-25 supported Palestinian statehood.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy acknowledged at the UN in July that “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution.”
Over a century ago, the UK was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the state of Israel through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Three-quarters of UN members already recognize Palestinian statehood, with over 140 of the 193 having taken the step.
Starmer said in July that his Labour government intended to recognize a Palestinian State unless Israel took “substantive” steps including reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, getting more aid into the territory and confirming it would not annex the West Bank.
Starmer has also repeatedly called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages they captured in the 2023 attack, and is expected to set out new sanctions on the Palestinian militants.
Lammy told the BBC on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority — the civilian body that governs in areas of the West Bank — had been calling for the move for some time “and I think a lot of that is wrapped up in hope.”
“Will this feed children? No it won’t, that’s down to humanitarian aid. Will this free hostages? That must be down to a ceasefire.”
But he said it was an attempt to “hold out for” a two-state solution.
Palestinian foreign minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told AFP last week: “Recognition is not symbolic.”
“It sends a very clear message to the Israelis on their illusions on continuing their occupation forever,” she added.

“Worrying evolution”

Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,208 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gazan health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Portugal said that it would also formally declare its recognition in New York on Sunday.
“By acting now, as the Portuguese government has decided, we’re keeping alive the possibility of having two states,” Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said.