Philippine president to deliver key speech in the shadow of corruption scandal and political tension

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will deliver his annual state of the nation speech Monday with a bleak backdrop of a major corruption scandal that he exposed last year but has implicated his key allies; his estranged vice president’s impeachment trial; and the global economic fallout from a resurgent war in Iran.

More than 23,000 police were deployed to secure the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon city, where Marcos will deliver his penultimate annual address before his six-year term ends in mid-2028. Key roads to the presidential palace in Manila were barricaded with barbed wire and riot police to deter protesters.

Security concerns were heightened after a small homemade bomb exploded before dawn on Monday near the gate of the Department of Justice in Manila, causing no injuries or major damage. Separately, bomb parts were found near the Senate in suburban Pasay city which had not been assembled and apparently aimed “only to sow terror or fear,” national police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez jr. told reporters.

Marcos is expected to outline in his speech new programs to mitigate the impact of the renewed hostilities in the Middle East. He declared a yearlong national energy emergency in March as the war in the Middle East raged to ensure the adequate supply of fuel, food and agricultural products and prevent hoarding.

In last year’s state-of-the-nation speech, Marcos railed against widespread corruption in flood-control projects as the Philippines struggled to recover from deadly flooding and landslides that killed dozens of villagers and displaced more than 200,000.

Separate government and congressional investigations that followed implicated dozens of House and Senate members along with government public works engineers and officials, who allegedly pocketed huge kickbacks from flood-control projects. Their lavish lifestyles, including fleets of private jets and European cars, sparked public outrage and protests.

A current and a former member of the 24-member Senate have been indicted and detained for largescale corruption in connection with the anomalies. A leading suspect and former House member fled to Europe. Former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who served under Marcos, has denied any wrongdoing but has also been indicted in connection with the anomalies and is in hospital detention.

Many, however, have clamored for more influential legislators to be rapidly prosecuted. Critics have asked why one of the leading suspects, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez — the president’s cousin and key ally who denies any wrongdoing — had not been charged. Marcos has pledged that even his allies will be locked up in jail if there is evidence.

“We have done enough because we’re not done yet,” Marcos said. “Unfortunately, the more we look, the more we find.”

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, his former ally, for charges that includes corruption and threatening the president, is also underway.

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