Police in Manila arrested more than 200 people on Sunday after clashes broke out during large-scale anti-corruption protests in the Philippine capital. Authorities reported that at least 88 minors were among the 216 detained as riot police used water cannons and sirens against masked demonstrators throwing rocks.

Manila City Mayor Isko Morena confirmed that the youngest detainee was a 12-year-old boy. What began as a day of peaceful rallies soon turned violent, with police vehicles set on fire and windows at a precinct headquarters shattered.

The unrest reflects growing outrage over corruption in the Philippines tied to bogus flood-control projects that are believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

Thousands of citizens, including families, clergy, and activists, joined demonstrations to denounce the scandal, which has already forced the leaders of both houses of Congress to resign.

Protesters demanded accountability for the so-called ghost infrastructure projects, which were exposed after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos highlighted them during his July state-of-the-nation address.

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Political fallout and lawmakers implicated

The widening investigation has implicated multiple lawmakers and fueled public anger over systemic corruption. Greenpeace estimates that the losses from fraudulent projects may be as high as $18 billion, far exceeding the government’s Department of Finance figure of $2 billion.

According to the Department of Health, about 50 people were hospitalized in Manila following the confrontations. Police spokesperson Major Philipp Ines said 93 officers were injured and warned that the number of arrests could rise as detainees were still being processed.

“So far, none of them are saying the reasons behind their actions or if somebody paid them to do it,” police spokesperson Major Hazel Asilo told AFP. “As soon as we know their affiliations, we can know if they were part of the protesters or if they were just causing trouble.”

The scandal has drawn attention to the devastating effects of misused funds in a country already battered by natural disasters. The Philippines suffers from frequent typhoons, with an annual average of 20 storms. The corruption crisis coincided with the approach of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which threatened to bring renewed flooding to the northern provinces.

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