Press Release
September 17, 2025
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) amplifies the calls of the Filipino people for an end to corruption and slams President Marcos as the country’s “corrupt-in-chief.”
Across the Philippines, protests have swept the islands following revelations of a multi-billion-dollar flood-control scam implicating several senators. President Marcos has tried to distance himself from the scandal, but the implication of his cousin and his own position as head of state makes a mockery of those denials.
“Despite his desperate attempts to stay afloat and deflect the people’s anger, President Marcos will soon have to face accountability for his role as the prime representative of the corrupt system of governance in the Philippines,” said Robert Reid, Global Chair of FFPS. “It is impossible for him not to have known; at best, he would be incompetent at governing. However, the Filipino people have not forgotten the billions of dollars stolen by his father, Marcos Sr., during martial law, which provided the very plunder on which the son’s presidency is built. As the general population faces ever-increasing debt and hardship, their anger is turning toward the original nepo baby, Marcos Jr.”
The outrage over corruption has merged with growing disgust at the culture of political nepotism in the Philippines. Marcos Jr. is the country’s number-one “nepo baby,” a direct heir to the plunder of the Marcos family. His parents remain infamous worldwide for stealing billions from the Filipino people to fund their extravagant lifestyle, from Imelda Marcos’ notorious shoe collection to hidden offshore accounts. Today, Marcos Jr. lectures Filipinos to ‘live simply’ even as he flies by helicopter to concerts and hosts lavish parties inside Malacañang Palace.
As the country suffers repeated flooding, public funds are diverted to counter-insurgency and military operations instead of genuine disaster relief. Billions are funneled into a war of suppression while communities drown, livelihoods are lost, and infrastructure collapses. Marcos Jr. continues the tradition of using corruption and military spending to buy political loyalty while leaving the people to fend for themselves.
FFPS also denounced the regime’s escalating attacks on press freedom, likening the ongoing repression to the media crackdown imposed by dictator Marcos Sr. during the martial law era of the 1970s. The current militarization and “hamletting” of rural communities already amounts to a “de-facto martial law” and signals the dangers ahead as Marcos Jr.’s war of suppression intensifies.
“Marcos has clearly learned from his father’s playbook,” Reid added. “He feels the danger of the rising protests in the wake of those in Indonesia and Nepal that toppled government officials, and responds with repression. Ongoing trumped-up cases against journalists, such as the continued detention of falsely imprisoned Frenchie Mae Cumpio, continue to be part of this despicable attack on press freedom.”
Amid the swelling protests and tightening repression, FFPS calls on the international community to amplify the voices of the Filipino people and expose the corruption and war of suppression of the Marcos regime.
“Global solidarity is urgently needed to isolate the Marcos dynasty and support the Filipino people’s struggles against a corrupt system built on theft, violence, and US-backed militarism,” Reid concluded.