More than 7,000 protesters marched across Metro Manila on Sunday as the Trillion Peso March Movement renewed its call for accountability over the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal, according to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
About 4,000 demonstrators gathered along White Plains Avenue in Quezon City, secured by over a thousand police officers.
Another 3,000 rallied along Recto Avenue under the watch of nearly 900 personnel, while a smaller group assembled outside Robinsons Galleria, where more than 800 officers were deployed.
NCRPO chief PMGEN Anthony Aberin said authorities prepared extensively for the mobilization, defending the heavy security setup that included steel barricades and container vans.
“Meron parang mga container van. There’s no such thing as overkill. Talaga pong naghanda po kami because we don’t want the September 21 incident to happen again,” he told reporters.
He added that “mas maganda po na may demarcation line po tayo through the steel barricades,” explaining that the measures aimed to prevent close-contact clashes.
Sunday’s protest marked the latest wave of the movement, which first surged on September 21 and ended with several arrests linked to violence that disrupted an otherwise peaceful rally.