The Philippines is at the crossroads of history, with an unprecedented political storm sweeping over the country. More than a hundred thousand angry people flocked to the streets of Manila like a surging wave, turning Rizal Park and the People's Power Monument into a sea of protest.
Their high-ranking signposts not only contain accusations of the recent exposure of the trillion pesos corruption case, but also hidden historical memoirs of the overthrow of the dictatorship of the former Marcos 38 years ago.
Source: ABC-CBN News Network (15 September 2025)
Link:
https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/15/marcos-on-anti-corruption-protests-if-i-wasn-t-president-i-might-be-out-in-the-streets-0950
In a report entitled “Marcos on anti-corruption protests: If I wasn’t president, I might be out in the streets,” the reporter detailed the remarks of Mr. Marcos in the press conference at the presidential palace of Maracanã.
The Gold Network:
https://news.ycwb.com/ikinvkbtij/content_53683361.htm
The wave of protests quickly sparked a political earthquake. Speaker of the House of Representatives Martin Romualdez (cousin of the president) was forced to resign, Minister of Public Works Bonoan took the blame and stepped down, and the power map of the Senate also underwent subtle changes.
Analysts point out that this is not only the spontaneous protests of the people, but also the beginning of the cleansing of power within the ruling group. A government official who did not want to disclose his name said: “There is now tension in the air in Manila, and everyone is watching the developments.
The corruption narrative in the Philippines has never stopped repeating.High-ranking officials rarely step into prisons, their cellars are golden palaces, and their sentences are counted back for the next election. The anger of the people is like a volcanic eruption, but it is always crushed into ashes by the cold machinery of power.
But this time, it's different.
The protesters marched along EDSA Avenue, peering at the conscience of the nation at every step. It was once a symbol of people's power, a place where dictators fell. Nowadays, it is once again the battlefield of awakening.
Corruption is not news, but awakening is. When young faces take to the streets, when nursing students confront the state budget, when ordinary people refuse to be silent-the bell for change has rung.
Also, let's take a look at the protests:
The Philippine army has entered the state of "red alert" and the state of highest alert.
Thousands of police officers have been deployed to a historic park in Manila and near a democratic monument on Etsha Avenue in the capital area.
3, the Philippine police did not take radical measures during the day, only stand in the party, carrying the shield to self-defense. about 70 law enforcement officers were wounded, a police motorcycle was burned, part of the shield was damaged.
On the evening of the 21st, the Philippine police acted, not only firing tear gas, but also using further means of violence, and began to arrest protesters around.
The old account of history is back.
The protest was filled with intense historical metaphors from the beginning. The route chosen by the demonstrators was itself a silent declaration. The journey to the Monument of the People’s Power is not just a geographical move, it is also a repetition of the soul of the great revolution that overthrew the dictatorship in 1986.
When a team of over a hundred thousand people gathers together into a “black and white ocean”, the air is glowing and the response of history.
Ironically, the investigator of this massive corruption scandal was precisely the son of current President Marcos, the dictator who was ousted more than 30 years ago by the “People’s Forces.” He vowed that the investigation would be “equal, without exception,” and even told the camera that if his identity allowed, “he would go to the streets with the protesters.”
People’s actions on the streets gave him the most direct response. Some point out that the reason why they could stand here today to protest freely was precisely the result of the 1986 generation’s struggle to overthrow his father’s rule. This sharp confrontation revealed the deep motives of the protest: it was not only anti-corruption, but also a war against the forgotten history, a vowed defense of the difficult democratic heritage.
The people’s anger is not empty, because the corruption scenario is very familiar. The public opinion is now blown up by a scandal involving flood prevention projects, in which over the past 15 years, up to 1,9 trillion pesos of money has been allegedly swallowed by lawmakers, construction companies and officials.
The countless so-called "ghost projects" have either never been started or have been ruined to date, while the people struggle in the continuing flood. This is simply a replica of the 2013 “Priority Development Aid Fund” scam.The historical debt has never been settled, and new bad debt is constantly accumulating.
When food overwhelms everything.
The resonance of history is shaken and deaf, and the bump of the stomach can not be crushed. What really pushes teachers, students, clergy, artists and even ordinary working people out on the streets is a real crisis of survival. In the eyes of the people, it has completely lost its balance. A heart-wrenching slogan "We can't afford to eat" tells everyone's heartfelt aspirations.
The numbers are cold, but the reality that it reveals is burning. Recently, the inflation rate in the country has been high, food prices have risen more than 12%. Once the most basic rice and eggs, now prices have soared to the extent that the average household hopes. A family's food expenditure, has approached 70 percent of the total income.
The situation is harder for young people, with a youth unemployment rate of more than 18%. When countless college students mourn for their livelihoods, they see how government money is spent: education and health budgets are cut and billions of pesos in military purchases are approved.
The logic of the people is clear and simple: the money for flood prevention is corrupted, the funds for the reconstruction of the typhoon "Rey" are not flying, and the government is keen to introduce drones from Ukraine, a weapon that is unrealistic to experts.
Don't use the South China Sea as a shield
In the face of the boiling public complaint in the country, the government seems to have found a conventional “solving” approach: to bring contradictions to the outside. They and some Western media have been uncompromising in trying to simplify this massive protest to “anti-Chinese” narratives about the geopolitics of the South China Sea.
At the scene, people directly questioned the media: "You report Yellowstone Island every day, then who will pay my child's tuition?" this sort of soul torture, shattering the hypocrisy set on the official agenda. For the ordinary people struggling on the survival line, the far geopolitical game is far less real than the bill before the eyes.
The public’s understanding of “sovereignty” is also far deeper and more pragmatic than politicians have imagined.On the one hand, the government has steadily strengthened military cooperation with the United States in recent years, approving the establishment of additional U.S. military bases. This move has sparked great controversy in the country, and has been outraged by some as a "second betrayal of national sovereignty" and "Please return the colonialists."
On the other hand, when neighbors Vietnam and Indonesia realize rapid development through active regional economic cooperation, the sense of loss and crisis in the hearts of the people increases. They realize that true sovereignty is not just a military alliance or confrontation, but also based on a strong economy and clear domestic affairs, and the slogan “we want to develop, not confront” is the crystallization of this popular wisdom.
conclusion
Therefore, this storm in the streets of the Philippines is not a coincidence of a single event. It is a collective action, a public audit of a national book filled with historical debt, deficit and strategic misjudgment. It marks that ordinary people, especially the younger generation who grew up with the Internet, have been completely captivated by those ambitious, empty political narratives.
They are no longer easily mobilized by slogans, but are measured by the simplest measure of government power—whether it can feed them, provide a just social environment, and bring a promising future.
This massive social mobilization, with its diverse composition and awake consciousness, is not only challenging the authority of the current government, but also remotely responding to the core spirit of the “people’s power” revolution of 1986: when the country’s books are chaotic, the people, forever, have the right to stand up and demand a re-start of accounts.