Despite the scorching heat along EDSA, protest sites on Sunday filled with people dressed in white, chanting against alleged corruption in the country during the “Trillion Peso March.”
The crowd was diverse. Some participants arrived with friends and organizations, while others came with nothing but conviction and the eagerness to have their voices heard alongside thousands of others.
Kiko Aquino Dee, a member of a family long associated with EDSA, was among the speakers who took the microphone. Dee said the protest served as a safe space for Filipinos to express their frustration over corruption, while also reflecting the country’s culture of unity and love for the nation.
“That’s how protests are here in the Philippines—they are a space for anger, but they are also a space for the beautiful aspects of our culture, like love and our sense of community and fellowship,” Dee said.
He also emphasized that the protest posed a direct challenge to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., stressing that accountability in the alleged flood control anomalies should apply to everyone, without exception.
“If the President is serious that he will spare no one in the issue of corruption, that means it includes his cousin, his own child, or even himself,” Dee said.
He added that President Marcos should consider recusing himself from the investigation by urgently certifying the Independent Commission on Infrastructure bill pending in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, a towel vendor known as “Tatay Doy” expressed raw anger over corruption, saying that jail time for corrupt officials was not enough for him. The elderly protester, who described himself as an ordinary Filipino struggling day by day, voiced extreme sentiments calling for the harshest punishment against those involved.
“I want to convey my deep rage. All those politicians, those senators, those congressmen, must be held accountable. If possible, those people should be killed,” Tatay Doy said.
Asked whether imprisonment would suffice, he said it would only perpetuate what he described as a never-ending cycle of corruption.
“They get jailed, then they get out again, then they run for office, get elected, win, and they steal again,” he said.
A teenage protester named Lance, meanwhile, struggled to hold back tears as he spoke about how corruption deprived students like him of opportunities such as scholarships. Coming from Biñan, Laguna, Lance said he traveled alone to EDSA to speak for fellow students.
“To all the officials, I badly want to curse, but we still recognize dignity,” Lance said.
“Please have mercy. What you are doing makes one weep, because the stealing you are doing affects everyone, even me as a student. I am struggling to get a scholarship and am not getting fair opportunities to finish my education,” he added, clutching a bag that appeared almost larger than his torso.
As the sun set, the crowd at the EDSA protest areas gradually thinned. Protesters came from different walks of life and carried varied placards, but they were united by a single message: “Ikulong na ’yan ang mga kurakot!” (Jail the corrupt.)