Davao City militants demand accountability from all government officials tagged in corruption scandals
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22October)– Undeterred by a sudden afternoon rain, some 50 members of various progressive groups on Tuesday, October 21, staged a protest to demand accountability for large-scale corruption involving several government officials amid worsening poverty that affects millions of Filipinos.
During his speech, Rauf Sissay, secretariat member of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Southern Mindanao Region, said several government officials exploited the anomalous flood control projects in the national budget to steal billions of pesos from the public funds.
Sissay expressed his frustration over the misuse of public funds, which he said come from the hard-earned taxes of the Filipino people who struggle daily just to make ends meet.
Sissay was with members of various groups including Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao, Kabataan-Southern Mindanao, and Gabriela-Southern Mindanao, joined the rally held at the Freedom Park here.
Protesters chanted, “Lahat ng sangkot, dapat managot!” (All those involved must be held accountable!), as they demand accountability from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vice President Sara Duterte, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and other government officials involved in the anomalous flood control projects.
Sissay said that those in power do not genuinely uphold the true interests and rights of the Filipino people, particularly the poor, who are most affected by the consequences of substandard infrastructure projects and the lack of social services.
In a statement, Fauzhea Guiani, chair of the Anakbayan-Southern Mindanao, lamented that the administration of Marcos Jr. and his cohorts “continue to plunder public coffers and weaponize state institutions against those who dare expose abuses and sociopolitical realities,” as millions of Filipinos “reel from deepening poverty, lack of social services, and militarization.”
She said they are enraged by widespread corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways and other government agencies.
She also condemned the labeling of activists and organizers as “terrorists” or “criminals” for speaking out against corruption, demanding accountability, and advocating for social justice.
She alleged that the 2026 national budget by the House of Representatives was still “riddled with lump-sum and unprogrammed appropriations for projects endorsed by the national government agencies and a majority of lawmakers.”
She called the unprogrammed appropriations, which amounted to P200 billion in the 2026 national budget, the new “pork barrel.”
“Meanwhile, in Davao, Congressman Paolo Duterte has yet to fully explain the whopping P51 billion-worth of funds supposedly for flood control and infrastructure projects his office received during (former President) Rodrigo Duterte’s administration,” she added.
She said Vice President Durterte has “her own share of explaining to do regarding her office’s dubious utilization of confidential and intelligence funds from 2023 to 2024.”
“All of the afore-mentioned are manifestations of bureaucrat capitalism, wherein corrupt officials use the bureaucracy for their own gains and business interests,” she added. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
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