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Crissa Tolentino has grown resigned to floods as an everyday reality.

This 36-year-old relies on a paddle boat through flooded streets almost daily. This is the only way to move from where she lives in the residential area to the main part of Apalit near the nation’s capital.

Her transportation transports her to school, and to the clinic where she is receiving care for her condition. She mentions she experiences dry streets for a brief period each year.

But currently she is extremely upset.

An unusually fierce monsoon has disrupted daily life like never before in this island country, and sparked frustration and allegations about graft in public works.

Downpours have trapped countless people during travel, caused vehicles to drift in roads that have transformed into rivers and led to outbreaks of leptospirosis, an illness affecting the liver that is transmitted through the excrement of pests.

"I feel let down," the teacher says. "I labor diligently, I am frugal and levies are taken from my salary monthly. Now I discover that vast sums in our taxes are taken advantage of by dishonest officials."

It's a charge that is resonating across the Philippines, where people are asking why the authorities cannot tame the high water with the large sums of pesos it invests in construction like roads, overpasses and levees.

Public outrage is palpable on social media, digital spaces and Twitter, where they are venting toward officials and industry leaders who they assert win contracts for ghost projects that are not realized.

President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos publicly recognized this as a ongoing issue on a visit to inspect a water management structure that he then discovered did not exist. The minister later said fraud had taken 70% of government money allocated for water management.

The legislative leader, who has been implicated, has stepped down, although he rejects any impropriety. Additionally the figure of the Senate has been ousted after it was found that a business who won a state project was discovered to have contributed money to his political run, which is prohibited.

Frustrated Filipinos have been producing AI videos of politicians as representatives of corruption, a symbol of self-interest. A lot of the ire is also focused on children of privilege, the descendants of wealthy politicians or contractors, whose lavish lives are featured across social media.

Looking through her feeds, Ms Tolentino says she identifies with a musical track from 2009 which has become the soundtrack to the widespread anger.

The track, by local artist Gloc-9, asks why leaders are unable to empathise with ordinary people. The title means seat in Tagalog, and it captures the frustration at those with government positions who seem far removed from the lives of everyday Filipinos.

"That song is our real situation," she says. "It sums it up."

A huge anti-corruption protest is already scheduled for this weekend—the observance of the day in that year when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared authoritarian control.

The current president, who is now president—Bongbong Marcos—is fully conscious of how far public anger can go. Historically, public demonstrations that forced his father from power in the past, ending a lengthy dictatorship that embezzled billions from the state.

More recently, public outcry forced policy changes in Indonesia and, just last week, brought down the government in Nepal. Accordingly on Monday, as Filipinos called for an explanation, he announced an probe that would "unmask the fraudsters and find out how much they stole."

"Were I not in office, I might be demonstrating with them," he told reporters.

"Let them know how much they harmed you, how they stole from you. Let them know, make your voice heard, rally—just make it peaceful."

He repeated previous statements when he promised improved conditions while appearing to pin the fault elsewhere. He blamed corrupt politicians and constructions firms for the significant shortage of infrastructure: "You should be ashamed," he said.

Subsequently in a public statement he said he had found a "disturbing" fact: the public works ministry had engaged only a small number of companies to build flood control projects worth 545bn pesos ($9bn).

Each of these firms are now under investigation and the national financial authority has restricted their funds, but the primary scrutiny has gone to one family-owned business. It is owned by a couple, who were brought up in poor families but are now a prosperous, prominent couple engaged in social media. Prior to the scandal, the businesswoman was best known for her campaign to become local leader of Pasig city.

In the past year the couple were profiled on online shows, where they shared their humble beginnings story. The presenter described it as "motivating". But following the catastrophic inundation, those videos have gained renewed attention as sources of outrage.

The footage reveals the couple flaunting their multiple luxury cars, including a Mercedes Benz Maybach, a large car and a Porsche Cayenne. They purchased some models in two separate colours, black and white.

The backlash was quick. The Discayas were ordered by the Senate and the House of Representatives for hearings, and authorities banned their firm, while activists smeared the gates to their office with filth and marked the word "criminal".

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