Manila (EFE).- Thousands of college students in the Philippines protested against corruption on Friday, amid a high police presence to prevent outbreaks of violence similar to those seen in recent days in Nepal and Indonesia, while the country investigates multimillion-dollar flood control projects that were supposedly completed but are either nonexistent or of poor quality.
“The vast system of corruption and corruption within government is being exposed daily. While the corrupt live in luxury using the town’s caban, millions of Filipino citizens continue to live in extreme poverty,” the UP Diliman University Student Council said in a statement on Thursday.
Dressed mostly in black, more than 2,000 young people protested at this prestigious university, located in Quezon City, according to student council figures cited by the Philippine network ABS-CBN.
The university demonstration, called by several student and civil society groups, took place on a day when other rallies were also planned in Manila, including a protest in front of the headquarters of the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
In response to the gatherings, authorities deployed 2,500 officers in various parts of the capital.
According to police spokesperson, Randulf Tuaño, the objective of the deployment was to prevent outbreaks of violence like those seen during recent anti-corruption protests in other Asian countries.
“The things that happened in Indonesia and Nepal are not (part of) Filipino culture,” Tuaño said in an interview with state broadcaster PTV on Friday.
Friday’s protests in the Philippines come amid a climate of outrage in the country over multi-million dollar flood control projects that are completed on paper but prove nonexistent or of poor quality on the ground.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an investigation into these projects last month.
According to Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, the projects caused losses to the public treasury of €1.771 billion ($2.07 billion) over the past two years.
Marcos created an independent body to review the contracts agreed to by the DPWH, while the Senate is conducting its own investigation into the matter, marred by corruption allegations against two senators.
In Nepal, student-led protests have left at least 31 dead in recent days and forced the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in less than 24 hours, while in Indonesia, unrest has claimed at least a dozen lives. EFE
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