MOST DEFINITELY, we are not referring to that fateful September 21 fifty-three years ago when the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law — but rather to a parallel event that occurred exactly fifty-three years later.
The Trillion Peso March was a series of mass demonstrations organized by church groups, civil society organizations, student movements, labor unions, and political coalitions. Though held in separate venues, these protests were united in their response to alleged large-scale corruption in government flood control infrastructure projects. Organizers decried what they claimed to be massive irregularities amounting to some P1.9 trillion (about US$33 billion) lost to corruption.
The controversy centered on alleged insertions and unprogrammed projects in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) — the national budget passed by Congress and signed by the President.
Ironically, nature itself seemed to conduct its own “fact-checking.” A series of storms and typhoons caused widespread flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, exposing the supposed existence of some 5,500 “completed” flood control projects.
Naturally, the taongbayan were outraged — hence, the Trillion Peso March. The date, September 21, was symbolically chosen as it coincides with the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, underscoring calls for democratic rights and government accountability.
Fortunately, Proclamation No. 319 — signed by then-President Rodrigo Duterte — declared September 21 as a National Day of Protest, “in solidarity with the people’s call against all excesses and shortcomings of the government, and with the people’s desire to uphold the highest standards of integrity, efficiency, and accountability in government.” Current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expressed support for the proclamation and for the people’s constitutional right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
However, what was intended to be a peaceful assembly of the taongbayan was marred by the participation of the usual suspects with ulterior motives — namely, the Makabayan bloc and its allies — who allegedly inserted agitators to incite chaos in the streets.
The goal of these acts of vandalism and disorder, it appears, was to build a “critical mass” of unrest sufficient to destabilize the government. For the uninitiated, “critical mass” refers to the point at which something grows large enough to trigger a significant reaction — in this case, public unrest and street anarchy.
According to police reports, around 400 masked youths infiltrated the protest, hurling rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails while attempting to breach police barricades. The violence injured several officers and forced authorities to disperse the crowd. A trailer truck and several motorcycles, including some belonging to the Philippine National Police (PNP), were set ablaze.
Predictably, the morning after, members of the Makabayan bloc condemned the police for “excessive use of force” and alleged “violations of due process” in the arrest of more than 200 individuals during the Trillion Peso March.
Makabayan representatives later visited the Manila Police District headquarters to check on the detainees’ condition and subsequently released a statement that came as no surprise:
“Our visit confirmed clear rights violations. First, the majority of those detained were deprived of their Miranda rights. They were unable to contact their families and had no access to legal counsel. Second, a number of detainees reported experiencing violence during their arrest and while in police custody.”
As expected, the bloc announced that lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers and Karapatan would provide legal assistance to several of those arrested.
Finally, while the taongbayan were calling for accountability from the House of Representatives over the alleged corruption in the 2025 GAA, Kabataan party-list representative Rainee Co chose that very moment to call for the defunding and abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
That, one must admit, seemed rather awkward, cringeworthy — and completely out of place./PN
