Protests have erupted across the Philippines in its capital of Manila due to accusations of government environmental fund embezzlement. The protests sprouted from a speech that the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., gave in July which was addressed to the nation. In that speech he noted how there were many instances of anomalies within a number of flood control projects that were scheduled to be completed. According to the New York Times, Greenspace, which is an environmental group, estimates that $17.6 billion dollars, or one trillion Philippine pesos was embezzled from these funds, funds that were supposed to be used to help the country fight flooding that has been both repeating and deadly. The president himself created an independent commission to investigate this, in addition to a Senate committee that also has been conducting its own investigation. Because of the scandal, both the house and senate leaders have already been replaced, showing that the scandal has begun to affect internal levels of leadership within the government itself. President Marcos Jr. has aligned himself with the protestors, echoing the sentiment of the protestors with his own anger from the scandal, noting how the protestors should be angry. The protests occurred on the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law that Marcos Jr.’s father, then leader of the Philippines Marcos Sr. declared. That declaration of martial law led to the beginning of a dictatorship, with protestors saying that it brings them fear of the reminder of those days. Before Marcos Sr. was overthrown, thousands of people were killed and billions in funds were plundered. It marked a dark period of time in the Philippines, and the rise of that dictator’s son to a democratically elected president is significant.  

Fernando Marcos Jr. won the presidency in 2022, 36 years after his father was thrown out of power after leading a dictatorship. His father was overthrown by a massive uprising of “People Power” in which millions of Filipinos rose against the vast number of abuses and deep corruption that was led by his government. After his family was sent into exile after the overthrow of his father, Marcos Jr. and his mother returned to the Philippines. Overtime he worked to rebuild his family’s image and gained key state leadership roles in his rise to his eventual presidential victory.  

After that presidential victory however, Marcos Jr. has faced vast amounts of criticism in his term. Marcos Jr.’s own Vice President is the daughter of the controversial former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing 17 cases being currently investigated against him in the International Criminal Court in relation to his violent drug war. Those charges and accusations against Duterte include crimes against humanity and murder, in which Duterte is accused of being an “an indirect co-perpetrator” in the killings, according to the BBC. Many in the Philippines fear that with Duterte’s daughter as Vice President, and now with a son of a former dictator as President, there could be a return to those days under Marcos Sr., the reaction to these protests and the backdrop of Duterte’s I.C.C. cases being key pulse points of the future.