MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday (Sep 15) he did not blame people for taking part in street protests “one bit” as anger mounts over a corruption scandal involving phony flood control projects.
The infrastructure scandal has prompted a series of protests across the capital Manila in recent weeks, including one involving about 3,000 students at the University of the Philippines campus.
While most demonstrations so far have largely been small-scale, an annual protest tied to the 1972 declaration of martial law by Marcos’ father is expected to draw large crowds on Sunday.
The Southeast Asian nation’s army has been placed on “red alert” as a precaution.
At a Monday press briefing where he named a former Supreme Court justice head of an investigatory body, Marcos said the public’s anger was justified.
“To show that you are enraged, to show that you are angry, to show that you are disappointed, to show that you want justice … What’s wrong with that?” Marcos said at a press briefing.
“I don’t blame them. Not one bit”.
He also reiterated a pledge that friends and allies “would not be spared” when quizzed about his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, whose name was brought up by witnesses at hearings into the scandal last week.
Romualdez, who has denied any involvement, is one of numerous lawmakers placed in the spotlight by the widening scandal.
