Thousands of Filipinos up in arms to vent anger over bogus flood projects

Thousands of Filipinos marched in Manila on Sunday to vent their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

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Rage over the so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been mounting in the Southeast Asian country since President Ferdinand Marcos put them centre stage in a July state of the nation address that followed weeks of deadly flooding.

Marcos had said early last week he did not blame people for protesting "one bit" while calling for demonstrations to remain peaceful. On Sunday they largely were.

But AFP journalists watched as groups of mostly young men threw rocks and bottles at police in two separate incidents, setting fire to the tyres of a trailer used as a barricade near a bridge leading to the presidential palace in one.

Police advancing behind a wall of shields arrested 17 mostly young people in the first encounter, local authorities said.