Hijacking Outrage

The September 21 “Trillion Peso March” is supposed to be an uproar of public outrage over corruption in flood-control projects. It should have been one case of national unity, of citizens, regardless of party affiliation, holding those in power accountable for funds lost to greed as communities keep drowning in waters and fleeing from it. What should have been one simple call for reform, though, soon became hijacked.

National democratic organizations, from BAYAN to Kabataan, Gabriela to Anakbayan, marshaled their demonstrators. They added to the march scale, yes—but encumbrances as well. Instead of sticking to the one-note refrain of corruption, the rallies were steeped in placards and speeches correlating it to “imperialist control,” “bureaucrat capitalism,” and the whole national democratic color wheel. Communist Party of the Philippines red flags waved out. Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin posters were carried, alongside placards that proclaimed “justice” and “change.” The message was unmistakable: accountability was not part of the plan. Revolution was.

At least 216 were arrested following the riots at Ayala Bridge, Recto, and Mendiola. “Rebolusyon, rebolusyon, rebolusyon!” the demonstrators chanted as clashes left more than a hundred policemen and protesters injured. The violence at Mendiola exposed the double speak at play. On one hand, BAYAN and its counterparts hurried to condemn the rioters, insisting they were not part of the mobilization. On the other, CPP-affiliated formations openly celebrated armed struggle as the “solution” to corruption. The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command went further, branding corruption as proof of “bureaucrat capitalism” and calling for more violent mass offensives. The Party was, in truth, salivating at the chance to turn civic outrage into tinder for its protracted war.

It is inaccurate to lay the blame for the unrest solely at the feet of national democratic organizations. Other political blocs, those who benefit from instability, those who wish to weaken both the administration and its critics, stand to gain from the chaos. But only the CPP and its network want a repeat of history. Only they see the violence, the instability, and the specter of authoritarianism as fertile ground for insurgency. For them, Martial Law in the 1970s was not tragedy but opportunity; a moment that fed recruitment, justified armed struggle, and prolonged a war that has cost the nation fifty years of blood and squandered lives.

This is the danger of allowing national democratic groups to lead civil protests. Their organizing tactic has a flip side. Every protest becomes vulnerable to sabotage, every citizens' demands spun into pretext for revolution. The matter of corruption, valid and urgent as it is, is derailed by the familiar ritual of red placards, ideological sloganeering, and violent confrontations.

On social media, fallout was inevitable. BAYAN supporters cried foul of provocation, tagging “pro-Duterte saboteurs” as responsible for stoking violence. Others cited CPP fingerprints as proof to disprove that all along, the protest was hijacked.

The result was polarizing. Far from united action for systems change, the public was once again drawn to an old familiar blame game. Duterte vs Marcos, administration vs opposition. All the while CPP did in secret what it sought to do: confuse accountability with revolutionary posturing.

Corruption in the flood-control projects is real, and the Filipino people’s outrage is justified. But when groups waving CPP flags and portraits of Marx and Lenin march under the same banner, the demand for reform is tainted. Demanding for accountability becomes suspect, civic energy is drained, and polarization deepens. 

The “Trillion Peso March” is not a wasted opportunity to demand reform. But it should also be a lesson that corruption protests, if left open to being hijacked by the CPP-NPA-NDFP, can become stages for groups that do not seek justice but revolution. And in the end, the ones who benefit most from the chaos are not the flood victims, nor the Filipino people, but the CPP itself.