ISTANBUL

The Philippines on Friday issued its first arrest warrant over fraudulent flood-control projects that had sparked massive anti-government protests, drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

"There is now a warrant of arrest against Zaldy Co. and 17 others from the Department of Public Works and Highways and Sunwest Corporation," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on US social media platform Facebook.

Zaldy Co served as a representative in the House of Representatives from 2019 until his resignation in 2025 and is a co-founder of Sunwest Corporation, a company linked to the scandal in flood-control projects.

Marcos urged the law enforcement agencies to "not procrastinate any longer."

"Arrest them now. Make sure this is carried out swiftly and properly. Justice is now in motion," he added.

He had vowed to arrest those behind the projects earlier this month.

The Southeast Asian country was hit by Typhoon Fung-wong and Typhoon Kalmaegi this month, killing at least 259 people and affecting millions of others, while 114 people remained missing.

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos gathered on Nov. 16 at two major public rallies in Metro Manila for the first day of a three-day protest, demanding government accountability and transparency in the wake of two deadly typhoons that battered the country.

In September, thousands of people staged protests in different parts of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, against alleged corruption.

Rallies erupted after mass fraud was detected in some 9,855 flood-control projects that were worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion).

Protesters demanded accountability from corrupt politicians, the release of statements detailing assets, liabilities, and net worth, and the signing of bank secrecy waivers by all government officials.