Old clip misrepresented as corruption scandal rally in Philippines

Published on September 17, 2025 at 11:00
3 min read
By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines

Demonstrations were staged in the Philippine capital Manila on September 12, 2025 over a corruption scandal involving phoney flood control projects, but aerial footage viewed millions of times online does not depict one of the rallies. The clip was filmed during a Labour Day march more than a year prior.

"Hundreds of citizens flocked Kalaw Avenue in Manila on September 12 to condemn the anomalous flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)," says a Tagalog-language Facebook post shared September 13, 2025.

The accompanying clip, which has racked up more than three million views, shows protesters flooding a wide street, with some appearing to be stopped by a police blockade.

"This was one of the 13 'Black Friday protests' recorded by the PNP, which were held in various parts of Metro Manila," the post adds, using the acronym for the Philippine National Police.

Screenshot of the false post taken September 16, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Similar claims surfaced elsewhere on Facebook as public anger mounted over an infrastructure scandal allegedly involving dozens of legislators and public works officials (archived link).

President Ferdinand Marcos announced a three-person commission that would probe 10 years of flood control projects, and reiterated friends and allies "would not be spared".

The scandal has prompted a series of protests across the capital, including one involving about 3,000 students at the University of the Philippines campus.

However, the circulating video is old.

Google reverse image searches using keyframes led to a clip on X on May 1, 2024 that depicts the same scene -- showing a group of protesters facing a police barricade on the left side of the street, with identical vehicles lined up on the opposite carriageway (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the X post from May 1, 2024

"Here is the PNP only using one lane. Doesn't take rocket science to know that you just have to go to the other side and pass freely. Indeed, I live in a very interesting neighbourhood. Long live all the workers!" the post's caption said in a mix of Tagalog and English.

The X user later posted similar photos on the protest in the thread (archived link).

Another video uploaded by Philippine news outlet ABS-CBN on the same day features the same elements, such as three buses and the police formation (archived link).

"The PNP had a heated stand off against protesters in a section of Kalaw Avenue in Manila on Labor Day, May 1," reads the video's Tagalog caption.

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the ABS-CBN News footage of the Labour Day protest in 2024

Philipp Ines, chief of the Manila Police District's Public Information Office, told AFP no protest was reported to have occupied both lanes of Kalaw Avenue on September 12.

Meanwhile, local outlets reported a smaller rally staged at a nearby street that day (archived here and here).

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