Cebuanos formed the KASUKKO (Kalihukang Sugboanon Kontra Korapsyon) on November 18, 2025 at the Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Educators, church leaders, lawyers, human rights defenders, and community organizations banded together to continue pushing for accountability amid mounting public outrage over corruption tied to flood control projects. 

Organizers said the launch comes at a critical moment, as recent typhoons and earthquakes have exposed long-standing failures in infrastructure, particularly the misuse of public funds for non-existent or substandard flood-control works that left communities vulnerable and contributed to the scale of devastation across Cebu.

For veteran lawyer and former Cebu judge Meinrado Paredes, corruption in the country is deeply systemic. He noted that Filipinos are “not equal before the law,” saying that money often determines outcomes. “Even in politics, they do not represent the interests of the working class, they represent their own class,” he added. “The ones sitting in Congress are of the same bloodline. They steal so they can use it for the next elections,” Paredes said.

Text and photos by Maverick Avila/Bulatlat