MANILA, Philippines -- Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos gathered Sunday in the capital in the largest rally so far to demand accountability for a flood-control corruption scandal that has implicated powerful members of Congress and top government officials.Various groups have protested in recent months following the discovery that thousands of flood defense projects across one of the world’s most typhoon-prone countries were substandard, incomplete or simply did not exist.Government engineers, public works officials and construction company executives have testified under oath in hearings by the Senate and a fact-finding commission that members of Congress and officials at the Department of Public Works and Highways took kickbacks from construction companies to help them win lucrative contracts and avoid accountability.Most denied the allegations.About 650,000 members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, joined the start of the three-day rally Sunday in Manila’s Rizal Park despite intermittent rains, police said.
Many wore white shirts and carried anti-corruption placards.About 2,000 people, including retired generals, held a separate anti-corruption protest late Sunday at the “People Power” monument in suburban Quezon city.“These thieves have made us very outraged because we pay our taxes and these officials just plunder the treasury and rob us of our future,” said Rachel Morte, a 41-year-old resident from northern Pampanga province who joined the huge Manila rally.
“We hope we’ll get justice and the stolen money will be returned to the people.”Iglesia is an influential group that votes as a bloc and is courted by political candidates during elections.The police, backed by the military, went on full alert and deployed thousands of personnel to secure the weekend rallies, which were peaceful, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.During a Sept.21 anti-corruption demonstration, a few hundred black-clad protesters threw rocks, bottles...