On a charged November weekend in the Philippines, the nation found itself gripped by a series of rallies and mounting calls for accountability from the country’s top leaders. The tension between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, once formidable allies under the 2022 “UniTeam” ticket, has now spilled into the public arena, prompting both former military officials and grassroots organizations to demand an end to political infighting and a renewed focus on the country’s most pressing problems.
According to reporting from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the United People’s Initiative (UPI), a group led by retired military officers, staged a rally on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at the People Power Monument in Quezon City. Their message was clear: President Marcos and Vice President Duterte should set aside their feud and work together to root out corruption, particularly in the country’s flood control and infrastructure projects. “If they really love the people, they should surrender their pride and talk to each other to fix the country’s problems,” UPI secretary-general Capt. Rey Valeros (Ret.) told reporters, emphasizing the need for unity at the highest levels of government.
The timing of the UPI rally was no accident. It took place alongside a massive three-day anti-corruption rally organized by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at Manila’s Luneta Park, underscoring the depth of public frustration with persistent corruption scandals. The rallies came on the heels of major demonstrations on September 21, 2025—dubbed the Baha Sa Luneta and the Trillion Peso March—where progressive and sectoral groups called for the accountability of both the Marcos and Duterte administrations.
But the UPI, as Valeros pointed out, sought to differentiate itself from these earlier rallies. “We saw here in the People Power Monument, the people who arranged that were liberals. There were some from the Makabayan bloc. Their themes were different. Their theme was ‘BBM, Sara out.’ That was their call. For us here, you will not hear that kind of pronouncement,” Valeros explained, using the initials of President Marcos. Instead, UPI’s focus was on reconciliation and pragmatic solutions, not ousting leaders.
Still, not all voices at the rally were singing from the same hymn sheet. Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) official Jimmy Bondoc critiqued the September 21 rallies for being “vague” in their calls, suggesting that some parties intentionally avoided naming specific officials responsible for corruption. “It was intentionally, maybe, made vague by certain parties because they do not want to point at certain people… Last Sept. 21, it seemed they wanted to change the system. But, a system is the doing of certain people. Certain people abused the system. So now, let us hold these people accountable,” Bondoc told the Inquirer.
Meanwhile, Bangon Sambayanan secretary-general and Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) host Jeffrey Celiz took a sharper tone, directly accusing President Marcos of masterminding recent budget manipulations. Celiz cited allegations by former Representative Zaldy Co that Marcos ordered insertions in the 2025 national budget, fueling suspicions of high-level corruption. “There is now a clear and categorical call from the people pointing to Marcos as the mastermind. That’s the difference from September 21,” Celiz said at a separate protest at the Edsa Shrine.
Despite their differences, UPI convenor retired Gen. Romeo Poquiz welcomed the diversity of opinions, saying, “Though we may have varying views and calls, people and country are reasons worth setting aside our differences. We will continue to find that common ground.”
Organizers of the September 21 rallies, however, were quick to respond to the UPI’s approach. David Michael San Juan, convenor of the group Tama Na (“enough”), stated, “All those involved in the corruption must be held accountable, not just Marcos but also Duterte and others.” He stressed that the issue extended beyond flood control and confidential funds, encompassing all forms of corruption past and present. Francis Aquino Dee, spokesperson for the Trillion Peso March, echoed this sentiment, stating, “The entire Marcos-Duterte UniTeam must be held accountable even if they are currently at odds with each other.” Dee further argued that the current administration should not be absolved for its role in passing what he described as “the most corrupt budget in our country’s history,” nor should the Duterte administration escape blame for inflating the flood control budget in 2021.
Amid these domestic political battles, a parallel drama is unfolding on the international stage. Families of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s notorious drug war have renewed their criticism of Duterte, accusing him of employing delay tactics to evade justice. According to Inquirer reports, Rise Up for Life and for Rights (Rise Up)—a group composed of families of drug war victims—has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to uphold its jurisdiction in investigating the thousands of deaths attributed to the anti-drug campaign, regardless of the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2018.
The numbers are staggering. Government records acknowledge around 6,000 deaths under Duterte’s drug war, while human rights advocates estimate the toll could be as high as 30,000. For families like that of Sally Ramos, whose daughter Cristeta was killed, the pain and frustration are palpable. “It’s clear as day that Duterte just wants to evade accountability. He knows the evidence against him and his accomplices is heavy, so he wanted to stop the case from the beginning. He was the one who ordered our loved ones killed,” Ramos said in a statement.
Llore Pasco, another member of Rise Up and parent of two EJK victims, described a decade-long struggle for justice. “We did not get anything from the courts in the Philippines, which is why we sought the help of the ICC. We will not allow Duterte to go unpunished,” she asserted. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 had, on October 23, 2025, dismissed Duterte’s petition challenging the court’s jurisdiction, affirming that the court retains the legal power to investigate and prosecute him for crimes committed while the Philippines was a member state.
Duterte’s camp has since filed an appeal, including a petition for an indefinite adjournment of proceedings, arguing that the former president is not fit to stand trial. Nevertheless, Rubylin Litao, Rise Up’s national coordinator, urged the ICC to dismiss these appeals and proceed with charges against Duterte and his alleged accomplices. “Duterte’s lawyers may have tried all the delaying tactics available at their disposal, but they cannot erase Duterte’s crimes against humanity,” Litao declared.
Currently, Duterte is detained by the ICC in The Hague following his arrest in Manila in March 2025. In September, he was charged with three counts of murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity, linked to his alleged orchestration of a death squad responsible for brutal killings during his tenure as both Davao City mayor and president. The charges now cover 49 incidents across the country, underscoring the scale and gravity of the allegations.
As the Philippines wrestles with these intertwined crises—political division at the top, unrelenting corruption scandals, and a reckoning over past human rights abuses—many citizens are left wondering if true accountability and unity are possible. For now, the calls for justice and reform grow only louder, echoing through the streets and courtrooms alike.
