Floods killed dozens, but officials wore Prada and Balmain. Here’s why Filipinos are furious

The image that angered many Filipinos was not only of flooded communities, but of officials appearing insulated from the crisis. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was shown singing a love song to his wife at an Aug. 26 birthday celebration in Makati City. The videos spread online days later, as monsoon rains had inundated parts of Luzon, killed dozens and affected millions.

The contrast drew sharp criticism. One Facebook user, Joshua Javier Guitang, commented that the president did not care about poor people as long as he could party through the night. The reaction quickly connected the celebration to a broader corruption scandal involving billions of pesos allocated for flood-control projects.

The anger grew when photographs emerged from flood-hit Pampanga province. Governor Lilia Pineda, Vice-Governor Dennis Pineda and San Fernando Mayor Vilma Caluag were pictured inspecting affected communities in clothing and rain gear from luxury brands including Prada, Balmain and Burberry. Jackets costing tens of thousands of pesos became targets of online ridicule.

The clothing controversy took place alongside allegations that flood-control projects were substandard or did not exist. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told a Senate budget hearing on Sept. 2 that the Philippines could lose as much as 70% of government flood-control funds to corruption. He put the possible loss at up to US$2 billion and said it had reduced economic growth over the previous two years.

Marcos himself brought the scale of alleged corruption to public attention in 2024, triggering investigations that have produced court cases and arrests involving lawmakers and other officials. Authorities are examining alleged kickbacks, ghost projects and other irregularities. In one August case, anti-graft investigators said a 77 million-peso river-protection project in Bulacan had been declared complete even though it did not exist. The Justice Department said in July that it had recovered more than 841 million pesos in cash linked to anomalous flood-control projects. Political scientist Jean Encinas-Franco said public willingness to criticize officials had grown, particularly since the flood investigations began.

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That’s my president. He doesn’t care about the plight of the poor as long as he can party the night away.