Let me tell you about the day I learned how creative governments can get with other peoples money. It was 2019 and I was waiting eight hours at the DMV watching them install gold plated soap dispensers while potholes outside could swallow toddlers whole. Turns out that same year, Philippine politicians were inventing flood control projects that had one tiny problem. They didn't actually exist.

Fast forward to last weekend when Manila looked like a mix of Sunday mass and revolution lite. Thousands hit EDSA highway the same road where they toppled Ferdinand Marcos Sr back in 86 wearing those iconic yellow shirts. Now the crowd's back in white yelling about integrity while holding signs saying No mercy for the greedy. Same energy as my uncle at Thanksgiving when someone tries to take the last drumstick.

Church folks turned up too, which surprised exactly zero people raised Catholic. When Father Flavie Villanueva calls corruption a sin against God and people inside air conditioned mega churches writing checks to tax dodging televangelists could learn something, honey. The man literally said jail all killers between Hail Marys. That's the kind of righteous fury usually reserved for parishioners texting during homilies.

And hello. Let’s talk about the impersonality of modern graft. Stealing lifesaving infrastructure funds while your citizens wade through sewage takes a special kind of shameless. It’s like burning down a hospital and selling the ashes as miracle cures typhoon proof my tiny behind. These politicians allocated billions for flood barriers then built papier mâché decoys while villages washed away. Real life supervillain behavior.

President Bongbong Marcos Jr bless his PR team is scrambling like a sous chef on Chopped trying to appear tough on corruption his family knows all about. Remember when mom Imelda kept 1,200 pairs of shoes in the palace while farmers starved. Now Junior swears hell jail crooked legislators by Christmas which is adorable considering three of them helped restore his family to power. Setting watches for December 25th but preparing for eternal disappointment.

The military backing him up amidst whispers of coup talk completes this carnival. Eighty eight retired generals signing pro democracy pledges is the political equivalent of your grandma posting Black Lives Matter memes unexpected but weirdly encouraging. Still wild that protecting basic governance now requires generals stating the obvious. Don't overthrow elected leaders even if they're terrible is fourth grade civics but apparently requires a press conference.

Here's what cracks me up though. The same bureaucrats who can't deliver passports in under six months somehow orchestrated multibillion peso heists across dozens of flood projects! If my local DMV director could embezzle like this she'd own beachfront property in Maui instead of stealing ballpoint pens.

Marcos claims they've frozen 12 billion pesos in stolen assets so far. Let’s put that in perspective. 12 billion pesos could buy roughly 34 million Jollibee chickenjoy meals, provide vaccines for 4 million kids, or fund actual flood barriers protecting thousands. Instead it bought some senator a solid gold bidet probably.

Watching people power bubble up again gives me hope Americans could borrow a page. We accept political grift like bad weather whereas Filipinos take umbrellas and storm the streets. Maybe instead of tweeting rage face emojis about Congressional stock trades, we should be making effigies on the National Mall. Just saying.

The real kicker? Former public works director Henry Alcantara already gave back 1.9 million dollars in kickbacks and promised more. This is like finding your roommate ate your entire lasagna but offering to return three noodles. Not jail time babe. An appetizer.

Meanwhile 17,000 Filipino police officers guarded empty bridges near Malacanang Palace. Almost as many cops as there are substandard flood barriers across the islands. The priorities jump out as our Gen Z cousins say. Protect politicians from citizens rather than citizens from monsoons mission accomplished.

I’ll leave you with this. When Typhoon Fung wong drowned villages last month killing two and displacing 1.4 million, families found their government built floodwalls were about as effective as daisy chains. Turns out concrete mixed with lies just dissolves. Those protest shirts saying Let the greedy swim might be prophetic if activists have their way.

The lesson here isn’t just about stolen pesos. It’s what happens when people realize democracy isn’t a spectator sport. Filipinos remembered their ancestors literally moved mountains to oust plunderers before. Now they’re teaching new generations how to shake corrupt foundations until the walls come tumbling down. Maybe we should be paying attention.