THE Sept. 21 rally against corruption in flood control projects will demand accountability from all involved, regardless of political affiliation, organizers said on Monday.
“Our group does not spare any politician, and corruption has no political color,” Francis Joseph Aquino Dee, spokesman of the so-called Trillion-Peso March and grandson of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr., told reporters in Filipino.
“We are calling for accountability from all politicians, whoever they may be — Marcos, Duterte, or anyone else,” he added.
The Trillion-Peso March is spearheaded by the Church Leaders Council for National Transformation and will be joined by church groups, political parties such as Akbayan, universities, about 200 civil society groups and dozens of prominent people.
Organizers said the protest would press for justice over anomalies in flood control projects that may have funneled up to a trillion pesos in corruption since 2016. Among its demands are the immediate publication of all officials’ statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and the passage of the long-stalled Freedom of Information Act. It also seeks to end what they described as the Ombudsman’s “Martires Era” of blocking SALN access.
The program will start at Luneta Park at 9 a.m. before moving to the People Power Monument along the EDSA highway at 2 p.m.
The council said the protest is not seeking the return of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is under International Criminal Court custody in The Hague for his deadly war on drugs, or for President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s resignation.
“It is pushing the fight against corruption,” said Catholic priest Albert N. Delvo who is a council member. He added that the focus is on lawmakers, contractors and other alleged conspirators.
Mr. Dee also urged Congress to pass a law giving the newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure subpoena and contempt powers to strengthen its corruption probe. — Edg Adrian A. Eva
