Rage over corruption and “babies” as flooding paralyzes everyday life

Crissa Tolentino has long resigned to the flood as a lifestyle.

A 36-year-old state school teacher conducts a wedge boat on the flooded streets almost every day. This is the only way to travel from your home in the suburbs to the heart of Apolite, a lowland city near the Philippine Manila capital.

The boat leads her to work and the clinic, where it is treatment for cancer. He says he sees dry streets about two months a year.

But this year it is very angry.

Not an extraordinarily rigid monson has thwarted a daily life more than when -something in the southeastern Asian nation, and caused anger and accusations of corruption in flooding projects.

The rains had millions in the middle of the introduction, the left machines floating on the streets that turned into rivers and caused outbreaks of leptophorosis, liver disease, which spread through the excrement of sewer rats.

“I feel betrayed,” says Ms Talentin. “I work a lot, I do not carry out too much, and taxes are calculated from my salary every month. Then I find out that billions in our taxes use corrupt politicians.”

This is the accusation that resonates the Philippines, where people ask why the government cannot tame the floods with billions of pesos, which it poured into infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and raises.

Their wrath is sensitive to Tiktok, Facebook and X, where they go against the legislators and construction tycoons who claim that they will win contracts for GHost projects that are never materialized.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” himself Markas -Jr. acknowledged this at a constant problem when checking the flood control over the flood he found then did not exist. Later, the Minister of Economic Planning stated that corruption stated that 70% of the state funds were allocated for flood control.

The rapporteur of the House of Representatives, who was involved, resigned, although he denied any violations. And the Senate leader was rejected after it was found to be a contractor who won the state application to donate money to his company in 2022 that illegally.

Outraged Philippines together made a video from the legislators like crocodiles, a symbol of greed. Many IRA is also aimed at “babies”, children of wealthy politicians or contractors whose extravagant life across social media.

Scrolling out her channels, Ms Talentin says that the most of the rap -the foam has become a soundtrack for public rage.

Upiana, local artist GLOC-9, questions why politicians cannot empathize with ordinary people. The name of the song means “seat” in the local language Tagalog, and it directs anger to those who have parliamentary places that seem far from the life of ordinary Filipinos.

“This (song) is our real situation,” says Ms Talentin. “This explains it all.”

A huge anti -corruption protest is already scheduled for Sunday, September 21, the anniversary of 1972, when then leader Ferdinand Marcos introduced martial law.

His son, who is now president – Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos – Jr. knows how public anger can go. These were anti -corruption protests that took away the father from power in 1986, having completed the decades of the dictatorship that talked about billions from the state.

Most recently, anti -corruption protests have forced legislative reform in Indonesia and only overturned the nepal government last week. That is why on Monday, as the Philippines demanded explanations, President Marcos -Jr. announced the request that “would tell the scammers and find out how much they stole.”

“If I wasn’t president, I could be on the streets with them,” he told reporters.

“Let them know how much they hurt you, how they stole from you. Let them know, shout at them, demonstrate – just do it peaceful.”

This repeated the previous comments when he promised to alleviate the floods, and, speaking, put the guilt elsewhere. He blamed for corrupt politicians and firms for a serious lack of infrastructure: “Shame,” he said.

Then, at a press conference, he stated that he had revealed an “alarming” fact: the Ministry of Public Works signed a contract with only 15 firms for the construction projects worth 545 billion ($ 9 billion; £ 7.1 billion).

All these companies are now under close attention, and the Central Bank froze its assets, but the most attention has passed to one family business. It belongs to the Pacific and Sarah design that has grown in poor families, but now they are a wealthy, high -flying flight. Before the deposit of the flood, Ms Disk was most famous for her unsuccessful application to become the mayor of Pasig.

At the end of last year, the couple interviewed on the popular YouTube channels, where they shared the rhinestone story. One interviewer called it “inspiring”. But after the catastrophic flood, these videos arose in the form of anger.

They show that the couple demonstrates their three dozen luxury cars, including Mercedes Benz Maybach, Navigator Lincoln and Porsche Cayenne. They bought some models in two separate colors, black -white.

The reaction was fast. The discs were summoned by the Senate and the House of Representatives for the investigation, and the authorities were on their company, while the rally participants smoked the gates with the dirt and sprayed the word “thief”.

At the recent hearing of the House of Representatives, Mr. Discaya confessed that he paid the legislators – “we could do nothing but with them,” but the congressmen challenged his accusation.

The disco and other contractors have accused more than a dozen legislators, including key allies of President Marcos, but all of them denied the allegations.

The Philippine Internet also aimed at the children of politicians and contractors who are suspected of abuse, the brand of their hashtag “babies”. Many young women whose designer dressed in social media have caused sarcastic comments on how they should thank the taxpayers for financing purchases and trips.

One daughter of the former congressman was summoned in one outfit when she mapled Fundy with Dior, and made the desired and high price of Birkin Bag. Some of these people turned off the comments to their accounts or at all disabled them.

Outrage evaluated people who are behind some of the most popular social media accounts. “We will be relentless. We will be loud. We will be a mirror that holds on to power, and we will not look until justice is submitted,” said the team called the creators against corruption.

And there is anger offline. Employees of the Public Works Department, whose engineers are accused of assistance in the vaccination, were allowed to stop wearing the form after reports that they are being persecuted and persecuted in public.

Life under difficulties caused by extreme weather and poor urban planning continues.

Rans Rafael Galang even created from this prosperous business. It sells a jumpsuit with rain boots sewn to them on Tiktok. His regular work is a government researcher.

“I am angry and terribly because the money allocated for flooding projects in our province went to waste, people who used it for personal benefits,” he says.

A 28-year-old guy who lives in Kalling city in one of the worst provinces always leaves a home in shorts. Then it goes through the flooded streets before moving to another set of clothing on dry ground. The video of its problems became viral. One that shows that he made his way deeper when he was walking down the street, received three million views.

It is at the freedom of such procedures until its area receives proper storm drains and levees. “But I hope that a long project on flooding will be built nowadays, that the funds will be used honestly,” he says.

The Philippines are not unfamiliar with corruption allegations – they pulled out two presidents.

More than a decade ago – in 2013 – legislators accused the pockets of billions of their discretion budgets for projects.

Congress -Jeanchyna Leila de Lima, the then secretary of Justice, investigated these allegations. Now that she believes that she is confronted with another huge corruption scandal, she is worried that scale has increased: from tens of billions to hundreds of billion, she recently told The Podcast FACTS.

“I no longer know how to feel more. It’s such a mess.”