BUSAN, South Korea — President Marcos said he is not concerned about planned anti-corruption protests on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day, but warned against agitators who might use demonstrations to incite violence.

In an interview following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, the President said authorities are on alert for individuals who intend to disrupt rallies or endanger civilians.

“The only concern I have when we have demonstrations for whatever reason is that there are agitators who will go and try to cause trouble,” the President told reporters here on Saturday evening, Nov. 1.

“What demonstrator goes to a demonstration with Molotov cocktails that are not intending to cause trouble or to hurt people? Those are the people that we are worried about,” he added.

Marcos said intelligence agencies already have “a good idea” of who these agitators are and have been monitoring their movements.

“Tanggalin ninyo na sa isip ninyo ‘yan, manggugulo kayo. Wala namang mangyayari. May masasaktan lang (Abandon the idea of causing trouble — nothing good will come out of it, only people will get hurt),” he said.

The President reminded the public that the police are deployed not to suppress rallies but to ensure public safety.

“The police are just there to control the crowd, not to hurt the crowd,” he said.

Marcos acknowledged that public outrage is partly fueled by reports of alleged corruption and inefficiency in infrastructure projects.

“The reasons [for these protests] are the outrage — what we have been slowly or not so slowly discovering about some of these projects that were egregious in implementation and shameless in dishonesty and abuse,” he said.

According to the President, such anger is natural when people see public funds meant for essential services being misused.

“Those funds are supposed to feed people, to make their lives better. And that all disappeared because they’re buying airplanes and big mansions kung saan-saan (anywhere),” he added.

The planned demonstrations on Nov. 30 by different groups are said to be “bigger” than the anti-corruption protests staged in different parts of the country on Sept. 21.

With this, Marcos said the government remains committed to fully funding the operations of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which he created to investigate irregularities in public works, particularly flood control projects.

“We’re committed to providing whatever funding is necessary,” he said, noting that the ICI is still completing its organizational setup.

“It’s a work in progress,” he added.

The President said the commission’s budget “keeps changing” as it expands staffing and forms new departments for research, investigation, and forensic accounting.

Marcos stressed that beyond funding, the ICI will have full access to government data needed for its probes.

“Any single item of information that you require from any department in the Executive — you have it. No questions, no subpoena, no nothing,” he said.

The President also brushed aside questions raised before the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the ICI, saying such challenges were expected.

“It’s not exactly a surprise,” he said.

“The ICI is a new entity that didn’t exist before, so there will be questions about its legality or constitutionality. We’ll just have to answer those allegations and see how the Supreme Court will decide,” he added.

Marcos said the administration is confident about the commission’s legal standing, citing consultations with top legal experts before its creation.

“Before we started even thinking about organizing the ICI, I made sure that I got legal opinions from the best legal minds that I know,” he said, noting that the feedback that came back was “favorable.”

“I do believe we are on firm legal ground here,” he added.