More than 200 arrested after anticorruption protests in Philippines

Thousands attended rallies successful Manila implicit a corruption ungraded linked to shade flood power projects that outgo taxpayers billions of dollars.

More than 200 radical person been arrested pursuing clashes betwixt constabulary and masked protesters astatine an anticorruption demonstration successful the Philippine capital, Manila.

In a connection connected Monday morning, the determination constabulary said portion astir rallies the time earlier were peaceful, the gathering successful Ayala Bridge and Mendiola “even though unprovoked, turned precise violent”.

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“Protesters turned mobs assaulted constabulary officers with stones and thing they could get their hands on. Not satisfied with harming constabulary officers successful uniform, convulsive protesters acceptable motorcycles connected fire, vandalised and ransacked a concern establishment,” the connection read.

It added that constabulary arrested 224 suspects, immoderate of whom were minors.

At slightest 131 officers were wounded successful the clashes, immoderate of whom were “very serious”, but are present receiving aesculapian treatment.

Reporting from Manila, Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo explained that portion immoderate consciousness of normalcy returned to the streets of Manila connected Monday morning, “there is simply a heavier constabulary beingness than usual”.

“Schools are closed, a curfew for minors has been imposed arsenic investigations into alleged corruption successful flood power projects continue, much protests are expected, and astatine this constituent they could beryllium unpredictable,” Lo said.

On Sunday, thousands attended rallies successful Manila implicit a corruption ungraded linked to shade flood power projects that outgo taxpayers billions of dollars.

While the protestation was chiefly peaceful, with much than 33,000 rallying successful a historical parkland and a ideology monument successful Manila, immoderate took a antithetic route.

Police said they utilized teardrop state to disperse those who sprayed graffiti connected walls, toppled alloy posts, shattered solid panels and ransacked the lobby of a fund inn on a fashionable road.

Regional constabulary spokesperson Major Hazel Asilo told the AFP quality bureau that nary of those arrested has truthful acold shared their reasoning oregon if “somebody paid them to bash it”.

“As soon arsenic we cognize their affiliations, we tin cognize if they were portion of the protesters oregon if they were conscionable causing trouble,” Asilo added.

Protesters march towards constabulary aft destroying the blockade during a protestation denouncing what they telephone corruption linked to flood power projects, successful Manila, Philippines, September 21, 2025 [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]

Earlier, protests erupted successful different Asian countries, including Indonesia and Nepal, successful caller weeks implicit authorities behaviour and corruption.

For Filipinos, choler successful the state had been mounting since July aft President Ferdinand Marcos Jr uncovered the shade infrastructure projects during a state-of-the-nation address.

“I consciousness atrocious that we wallow successful poorness and we suffer our homes, our lives and our aboriginal portion they rake successful a large luck from our taxes that wage for their luxury cars, overseas trips and bigger firm transactions,” pupil activistic Althea Trinidad told The Associated Press quality agency.

According to the Department of Finance, the Philippine system is estimated to person mislaid up to 118.5 cardinal pesos ($2bn) from 2023 to 2025 owed to corruption successful flood power projects.