[Global Times special correspondent Wang Yi] "Anti-corruption protests broke out across the Philippines." According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the 21st, people in more than 20 cities in the Philippines took to the streets that day to protest against the alleged corruption of the government in flood control and other infrastructure projects. Among them, the losses caused by the scandal of the Philippine government involving false flood control projects are estimated to be close to 18 billion US dollars, or about 1 trillion Philippine pesos. Therefore, the protest is called the "Trillion Peso *".

The protest was the largest since President Marcos came to power in the Philippines. On the morning of the 21st, about 490,000 Filipinos gathered in the capital city of Manila in the Park of Libra. They expressed indignation at politicians who embellished the Filipinos¡¯ resilience to cover up corruption. In the afternoon, more than 1.5 million people gathered in the city of Queenson, in the district of Manila, in front of the People¡¯s Force Monument.

According to the Philippine ABC-CBN website, the Philippine administration and Congress have previously investigated corruption in flood protection infrastructure projects. Hong Kong¡¯s South China Morning News on 21 that the flood protection scandal has triggered a change in the leadership of the two houses of the Philippine public, with President Marcos¡¯ cousin Martin Romualdes announcing his resignation for his involvement in the scandal. Hundreds of bank accounts associated with these projects have also been frozen.

The demonstrations of September 21 had a symbolic historical significance. The Philippine Daily Questionnaire said on September 21 that former President Duterte declared the day of every year a national day of protest, and on this day in 1972, Marcos¡¯ father and former President Marcos declared a national warrant. The Hong Kong South China Morning Post said on January 21 that Marcos was facing his own crisis: blurring corruption scandals, four coup rumors and tens of thousands of Filipinos ready to march onto the streets. The political scientist Jean Franco of the University of the Philippines said that the ¡°trillion pesos march¡± was a major political crisis that could ¡°destroy his political legacy.¡±