For the second time in just months, Manila has become the epicenter of a rising national fury-one fueled not by ideological divisions, but by the very real, deadly consequences of corruption. Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos poured into the capital to demand justice, accountability, and systemic reform after revelations that billions of pesos earmarked for flood-control projects were lost to graft, kickbacks, and what investigators now call an unprecedented series of “ghost” infrastructure schemes.

The scale of the protests is extraordinary, even by the Philippines’ history of mass mobilization. On November 17, as the sun rose over Quirino Grandstand, an estimated 150,000 people had already assembled by 9 a.m. The day before, police counted more than 550,000 demonstrators. By all accounts, this three-day protest-organized by the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC)-is one of the largest public gatherings in Manila since the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

This time, however, the anger is directed not only at individuals at the center of the scandal but at a broader culture of impunity that has allowed corruption to flourish for decades, even amid worsening climate disasters that kill thousands and devastate communities each year.

The outrage was sparked by mounting evidence that many government-funded flood-control projects across the country were........

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