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Philippines’ content creators turn social media into battleground against corruption

The Creators Against Corruption online group aims to create a sustained, ‘always-on’ movement against corruption in the Philippines

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Members of the Creators Against Corruption online group, which launched in Pasig City, the Philippines, on Thursday. Photo: Carlo Ople
Sam Beltran
A new coalition of Filipino content creators has pledged to expose corruption and demand accountability, extending the digital crusade that has seen so-called nepo babies of the country’s elite publicly shamed for flaunting allegedly ill-gotten wealth.
The group – dubbed Creators Against Corruption (CAC) – formally launched in Pasig City on Thursday. Its members, who range from tech reviewers to horror storytellers, say their goal is to transform social media into a force for civic action amid growing public fury over the country’s flood control scandal.
“Now is not the time to be fence-sitting or on the sidelines,” said tech influencer and CAC lead convenor Carlo Ople during the coalition’s launch event. “We are called to be part of this battle against the raging corruption happening in the Philippines today.”
A man wades through a flooded street after heavy rains in Manila in July. Revelations of widespread irregularities in the Philippines’ flood control programme have triggered public fury. Photo: AFP
A man wades through a flooded street after heavy rains in Manila in July. Revelations of widespread irregularities in the Philippines’ flood control programme have triggered public fury. Photo: AFP

Ople told This Week in Asia that it had not been difficult to unite fellow creators, regardless of their niche.

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“The creators we have are diverse [but] what ties us all together is our cause to fight corruption with our platforms,” he said, adding that the group of 20 was open to accepting members from all walks of life.

One of the sparks, he explained, came from a viral image presented during a recent Senate hearing – wads of cash piled on tables inside a Department of Public Works and Highways office, allegedly intended as kickbacks for lawmakers in exchange for lucrative construction contracts.

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It was a stark visual of “how insanely bad the corruption was already in the Philippines” and served as “a rude awakening for a lot of Filipinos, including myself”, Ople said.

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