Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Students from different universities under the alliance ONE Taft walk out of their classes and march to Mendiola in Manila on Friday, October 17, 2025, as part of the National Day of Walkout to protest continued government inaction on corruption. The protesters call for accountability two months after the multi-billion peso flood control corruption scandal breaks, as no officials have yet been held responsible. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Students from different universities under the alliance ONE Taft walk out of their classes and march to Mendiola in Manila on Friday, October 17, 2025, as part of the National Day of Walkout to protest continued government inaction on corruption. The protesters call for accountability two months after the multi-billion peso flood control corruption scandal breaks, as no officials have yet been held responsible.
Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760870079142viber_image_2025-10-17_20-59-20-171.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Students from different universities under the alliance ONE Taft walk out of their classes and march to Mendiola in Manila on Friday, October 17, 2025, as part of the National Day of Walkout to protest continued government inaction on corruption. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — Even assuming good faith, Cavite Rep. Kiko Barzaga’s positioning as a champion in the fight against corruption could confuse the public and divert attention from seeking accountability over flood-control projects, mass leaders who have spent years in the parliament of the streets said.</p><p>None that ABS-CBN News talked to granted that good faith, with labor lawyer Luke Espiritu of Bukluran ng Manggagawan Pilipino likening the first-term congressman to presidential adviser Larry Gadon, whom he said used “clownery” to chase clout online.</p><p>Barzaga&#x27;s antics, Espiritu said, are an attempt by one faction of dynasties to create a Gen Z political figure who could win over Filipino youth.</p><p>&quot;Magiging novelty lang siya for a while at best, pero at worst ay maaaring maka-draw ng matinding atensyon patungo ulit sa pagsuporta kay Duterte at sa Barzaga dynasty,&quot; he said in an online exchange as he urged media to not give the congressman a platform.</p><p>(At best, he will be a novelty for a while. At worst, he could draw intense attention for support for Duterte and the Barzaga dynasty.)</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/14/-di-ko-pakawala-si-kiko-sara-duterte-denies-being-behind-barzaga-1757"><strong>&#x27;Di ko pakawala si Kiko&#x27;: Sara Duterte denies being behind Barzaga<br/></strong></a></div><p>Barzaga&#x27;s antics now include calling on people to gather at and enter Forbes Park in Makati City, a gated village for business tycoons, government officials and diplomats.</p><p>The declared targets: <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/14/romualdez-denies-accepting-suitcases-filled-with-cash-ici-1617">former House Speaker Martin Romualdez</a> and <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/29/zaldy-co-resigns-as-house-representative-amid-flood-control-scandal-1600">resigned congressman Zaldy Co</a>, who supposedly own houses there.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ePQ2EM3Aiw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;PR&#x27; STUNTS</strong></div><p>Kej Andres, chair of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, said the congressman’s “PR stunts” would only result in confusion and will not lead to meaningful change in what he called a rotten system.</p><p>“Mga tao lang ang kaniyang binabangga dahil siya rin ay bahagi ng sistemang ito bilang nagpapakakomportable bilang bahagi ng isang prominenteng dinastiya,” he said of Barzaga, whose family controls Dasmariñas City Hall.</p><p>(He is targeting personalities because he is also part of this system while living in comfort  as someone from a prominent dynasty)</p><p>Proof of that according to Mhing Gomez, chair of militant youth group Anakbayan, is Barzaga&#x27;s lack of opposition to unprogrammed funds — standby funds for conditional release — in the budget bill that the House passed this week on third and final reading. </p><div><strong><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2025/10/10/house-rejects-diokno-s-proposal-to-remove-p243-2-b-unprogrammed-funds-in-2026-budget-1816">House rejects Diokno&#x27;s proposal to remove P243.2-B unprogrammed funds in 2026 budget</a></strong></div><p>&quot;Sa madaling sabi, nililigaw niya ang galit ng mamamayan na ultimately ay para panatilihin ng bulok at korap na sistema,&quot; Gomez said.</p><p>(In other words, he is diverting the people&#x27;s anger, ultimately to maintain the rotten and corrupt system)</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CAN SCIONS OF POLITICAL DYNASTIES BE ANTI-CORRUPTION?</strong></div><p>Politicians and members of political dynasties presenting themselves as anti-corruption figures, should at the very least be willing to subject themselves and their political allies to scrutiny and investigation, De La Salle University Political Science professor Anthony Lawrence Borja</p><p>&quot;If they can&#x27;t, then it&#x27;s weaponized hypocrisy feeding on the desperation of ordinary citizens to find anti-corruption champion, even among the riling elite,&quot; he said in a separate online exchange.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/17/barzaga-may-face-another-house-ethics-complaint-2149"><strong>Barzaga may face another House ethics complaint<br/></strong></a></div><p>They will also need to go against their own interests to be credible voices against corruption in government, Andres and Espiritu said.</p><p><strong></strong>&quot;Kapag wala ang pagtraydor na ito — hindi lang sa dinastiya kundi sa kanyang uri bilang elite — budol ang pagpustura ng mga gaya ni Barzaga bilang anti-corruption figure,&quot; Espiritu said.</p><p>(If they do not betray their dynasty and their elite class, then their posturing as anti-corruption figure is fraudulent)</p><p>Andres said that dynasts who do not work to change the system and hold the corrupt accountable are just positioning themselves for the 2028 elections and using controversies like the flood control scandal to weaken members of rival factions.</p><p>As the Marcos and Duterte factions of the former administration UniTeam alliance trade accusations of corruption, all three mass leaders agreed that neither the president nor the vice president are exempt from the call for accountability.</p><p>Both <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/15/-gusto-nila-akong-tanggalin-marcos-jr-on-critics-linking-him-to-flood-control-mess-2153">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. </a>and <a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/16/sara-duterte-confident-she-won-t-be-implicated-in-flood-control-scandal-1201"><strong>Vice President Sara Duterte</strong></a> have expressed confidence they will not be implicated in the investigation into substandard, unfinished, and non-existent flood control projects.</p><p>Both have also said that any attempts to link them to the scandal are politically motivated.</p><p>Borja said government officials can either &quot;use incumbent structures to blunt anti-corruption efforts by allowing each other to survive with minimal costs&quot; or, if they are &quot;clean reformists, then they should focus on corruption by temporarily suspending ideological differences.&quot;</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760870421461viber_image_2025-10-17_20-59-07-651.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Protesters in Manila on Friday, October 17, 2025 call for accountability two months after the multi-billion peso flood control corruption scandal broke, as no officials have been held responsible yet. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>FOLLOWERS&#x27; FRUSTRATIONS ARE LEGITIMATE</strong></div><p>Despite doubts on Barzaga&#x27;s bona fides, the three mass leaders said the dozens of people who went to the Forbes Park protest and those on social media with whom the young congressman&#x27;s stunts resonate have legitimate grievances against corruption in flood control projects that have made communities more prone to flooding, the mass leaders said.</p><p>&quot;Malinaw ang unity sa kanila: anti-corruption,&quot; Gomez said, adding they could be brought into the broader campaign against corruption and for accountability.</p><p>(It is clear that we are united with them in being against corruption.)</p><p>&quot;Ang laban sa korapsyon ay laban ng sambayanan sa mga kurakot.&quot; he also said as he emphasized that the people&#x27;s anger should not be directed at each other but at politicians involved in the corruption scandal. </p><p>(The fight against corruption is the people&#x27;s fight against corruption.)</p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Andres said organizations can engage them and help them channel their frustration as well as any resentment towards Forbes Park residents to more productive ends.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/21/-baguhin-ang-sistema-leaders-call-systemic-changes-vs-corruption-1525"><strong>&#x27;Baguhin ang sistema&#x27;: Leaders call for systemic changes vs corruption<br/></strong></a></div><p>&quot;Hindi simpleng mayayaman ang kaaway, ngunit ang naghaharing negosyo, mga panginoong may-lupa, at politiko sa bansa,&quot; he said.</p><p>(We are going against the dominance of corporations, landlords and politicians, not simply seeing the rich as our enemies.)</p><p>Protests over corruption have continued and have spread — residents of Lipa City held <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/10/19/hundreds-join-first-protest-in-batangas-vs-corruption-in-flood-projects-1444">the first in Batangas</a> since the flood control controversy hit the news — participated in and led by Filipinos not born into political clans or wealth.</p><p>Espiritu said these are welcome but should lead to calls for a &quot;truly independent&quot; investigation — BMP is pushing a People&#x27;s Tribunal for this — into corruption.</p><p>&quot;Ang pagpapanawagan ng pagkulong sa lahat ng mga kurakot ang kailanman hindi gagawin ng mga budol gaya nina Barzaga at mga DDS dahil tiyak makukulong din ang mga nasa hanay nila,&quot; he said.</p><p>(The call to jail all the corrupt is something that frauds like Barzaga and the [Die-hard Duterte Supporters] will never do because people in their ranks will be jailed too)</p>

<p>Even assuming good faith, Cavite Rep. Kiko Barzaga’s positioning as a champion in the fight against corruption could confuse the public and divert attention from seeking accountability over flood-control projects, mass leaders who have spent years in the parliament of the streets said.</p>

Even assuming good faith, Cavite Rep. Kiko Barzaga’s positioning as a champion in the fight against corruption could confuse the public and divert attention from seeking accountability over flood-control projects, mass leaders who have spent years in the parliament of the streets said.

Barzaga’s antics distract from anti-corruption campaigns, protest leaders say

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Barzaga’s antics distract from anti-corruption campaigns, protest leaders say

Jonathan de Santos,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 19, 2025 10:30 PM PHT

|

Updated October 20, 2025 03:42 PM PHT

Read More:

Flood control projects

Kiko Barzaga

Student Christian Movement of the Philippines

Anakbayan

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino

Corruption

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