Tens of thousands of Filipinos protested in a Manila park on Monday, demanding the scrapping of a corruption-tainted development fund that allows lawmakers to allocate government money for projects in their districts.
A government audit released on 16 August found that $141 million of the fund allocated over three years under the previous administration was released to questionable aid groups and ghost projects.
The scandal centered on a powerful businesswoman who allegedly collaborated with lawmakers in channeling some of the funds. She has gone into hiding after she was charged with illegal detention of a whistle-blower. Local media reports of her lavish lifestyle have angered many ordinary taxpayers in the Southeast Asian country where nearly 28 per cent of the 97 million people live on a little over a dollar a day.
That prompted calls on social media for Monday's protest in Rizal Park, where more than 100,000 turned out including students, workers, priests and nuns.
Police said about 70,000 protesters were at the rally's peak.
Similar protests were held in a dozen other cities across the country, and in New York and other cities where there are concentrations of Filipinos.
Some Manila protesters carried placards saying ‘Senators, you should be ashamed of yourselves.’
Others wore masks with a picture of a pig's face, or shirts calling for the abolition of the fund.
Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told the cheering crowd that all Filipinos should act in an honorable way.
The rally coincides with National Heroes Day.
A government audit released on 16 August found that $141 million of the fund allocated over three years under the previous administration was released to questionable aid groups and ghost projects.
The scandal centered on a powerful businesswoman who allegedly collaborated with lawmakers in channeling some of the funds. She has gone into hiding after she was charged with illegal detention of a whistle-blower. Local media reports of her lavish lifestyle have angered many ordinary taxpayers in the Southeast Asian country where nearly 28 per cent of the 97 million people live on a little over a dollar a day.
That prompted calls on social media for Monday's protest in Rizal Park, where more than 100,000 turned out including students, workers, priests and nuns.
Police said about 70,000 protesters were at the rally's peak.
Similar protests were held in a dozen other cities across the country, and in New York and other cities where there are concentrations of Filipinos.
Some Manila protesters carried placards saying ‘Senators, you should be ashamed of yourselves.’
Others wore masks with a picture of a pig's face, or shirts calling for the abolition of the fund.
Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told the cheering crowd that all Filipinos should act in an honorable way.
The rally coincides with National Heroes Day.