MANILA, Nov 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands massed in the Philippine capital on Sunday demanding accountability over a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure scandal that has seen scores of officials, lawmakers and construction firm owners accused of corruption.

Rage over so-called ghost flood-control projects has been mounting for months in the archipelago country of 116 million, where entire towns have been buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in recent months.

President Ferdinand Marcos has seen friend and foe alike, including a congressman cousin, swept up by the spiraling scandal since he first put the issue centre stage in a July national address.

"Put them in jail now!" protesters chanted as they marched down the Manila thoroughfare known as EDSA, site of the People Power Movement that helped oust Marcos's father from power in 1986.

Demonstrators in the capital's Luneta Park, a short distance from the presidential palace, held crocodile-shaped signs calling for an end to systemic corruption.

"There (are) people who died because of the corruption that is happening," 20-year-old drag performer Jessie Wanaluvmi J told AFP before her scheduled performance.

The first arrests in connection with the scandal -- eight members of the country's Department of Public Works and Highways -- were announced only days ago, with the government promising "big fish are coming soon".

But Mervin Toquero of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines told AFP he was dissatisfied.

"It's impossible that that corruption happened without the knowledge of the higher officials," the 54-year-old said. "(They) must be accountable too."

Azon Tobiano, 68, who brought her granddaughter with her, said she had traveled to the park after seeing a call to action on social media.

"I really hope that justice will be served. I hope the president will be resolute to put in jail those accountable, whether it's his relatives or senators," she said.

The Philippines has a long history of scandals involving public funds, in which high-ranking politicians found guilty of corruption have typically escaped serious jail time.

More than 17,000 police were deployed for crowd control on Sunday.

A day of largely peaceful anti-corruption demonstrations in September saw clashes erupt between police and masked protesters, leading to more than 200 arrests.