Manila Protests Disrupt Rizal Park And Embassy Area

Published on Nov 17, 2025, 8:25 am CST

8 min read

Key points

Hundreds of thousands are rallying at Rizal Park in Manila from November 16 to 18 over a major flood control corruption scandal
Road closures near Luneta, Roxas Boulevard, and Padre Burgos Avenue are causing severe congestion between Ninoy Aquino International Airport and bayfront or Intramuros hotels
The U S Embassy in Manila has issued a Demonstration Alert and suspended routine services on November 18 near the rally zone
Philippines remains under a nationwide Level 2 exercise increased caution advisory so this is a concentrated corridor disruption not a countrywide escalation
Travelers should add 60 to 90 minutes for transfers, favor expressways and alternative drop off points, and avoid tightly timed sightseeing around Luneta during the rally window

Impact

Airport Transfers: Allow 60 to 90 extra minutes for trips between Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Manila Bay, Intramuros, or Makati hotels from November 16 to 18 if routes pass near Rizal Park
Embassy Services: Expect routine services at the U S Embassy in Manila to be suspended on November 18 and avoid non essential visits to the embassy compound during the rallies
Road Closures: Plan for partial or full closures along Roxas Boulevard, Padre Burgos Avenue, and streets around Luneta and Quirino Grandstand with diversions and checkpoints
Routing Choices: Use the NAIA Expressway, Skyway, and inner city arterials that avoid the bayfront when possible and ask drivers to steer clear of Luneta and Roxas Boulevard during peak rally hours
Itinerary Planning: Avoid tightly timed city tours, business meetings, or same day evening flights that rely on smooth movement through the embassy and Rizal Park corridor during November 16 to 18

A three day anti corruption rally centered on Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, from November 16 to 18 has shifted from abstract risk to real world disruption for travelers staying along Manila Bay, in Intramuros, or near the U S Embassy. Hundreds of thousands of protesters, many mobilized by the powerful Iglesia Ni Cristo religious movement, have filled the Luneta and Quirino Grandstand area to demand accountability over alleged theft and misuse of multi billion peso flood control funds, with estimates of around 600,000 to 650,000 participants over the opening days. Local authorities have responded with heavy police deployments, rolling road closures, and rerouted traffic, while the U S Embassy has issued a Demonstration Alert, suspended routine services on November 18, and warned of extensive congestion around its compound.

The net effect is a temporary protest corridor that can easily add an extra hour or more to airport transfers and city movements for anyone whose route passes near Rizal Park, Luneta, or the bayfront promenade, even though the overall U S travel advisory for the Philippines remains at Level 2, exercise increased caution, rather than a higher risk tier.

Rizal Park Protest Corridor

The current wave of rallies grew out of public anger over an audit that revealed widespread corruption in flood mitigation and flood control projects across the Philippines. Government reviews found that many projects funded since 2022 were substandard, incomplete, or never built at all, with a small circle of contractors receiving a disproportionate share of contracts, and billions of pesos in public money now in question.

Iglesia Ni Cristo, a politically influential church whose members often vote as a bloc, called the three day rally in Luneta for transparency, accountability, justice, and peace, with the main program at the Quirino Grandstand inside Rizal Park. Organizers and local officials signaled that they expected crowds of at least 300,000 people each day, and early estimates now suggest that attendance has substantially exceeded those projections, with some local and international outlets citing crowd figures well above 600,000 across the opening days.

Manila authorities, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Manila Police District announced extensive traffic control plans before the rallies began. Southbound lanes of Roxas Boulevard from Katigbak Drive toward President Quirino Avenue, and northbound segments feeding into the Luneta and embassy zone, are among the roads either closed or heavily restricted during rally hours. Sections of Padre Burgos Avenue and feeder streets around Rizal Park and the Quirino Grandstand are also affected, as are some nearby plazas and bridges, forcing vehicles into detours deeper into the city grid.

For travelers, that road map matters more than political nuance. If a transfer path clips the bayfront or the embassy perimeter during the rally window, the ride can quickly turn into a crawl.

Latest developments

On November 17, the second full day of rallies, protesters again filled Rizal Park and nearby streets, chanting against corruption and calling for faster prosecutions in the flood control scandal. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has promised that those responsible will face jail time by the end of the year, and an investigative commission has already recommended criminal charges, asset freezes, and forfeiture actions tied to suspicious projects, but many demonstrators say that the lack of visible arrests has eroded trust.

At the same time, the U S Embassy in Manila has taken the unusual step of suspending routine public services on November 18 because of the rally and associated congestion, while repeating standard guidance to avoid protest areas, stay away from large crowds, and remain alert around checkpoints and police lines. The closure affects routine consular services in the embassy compound, although emergency assistance and core security functions continue.

Authorities continue to emphasize that they will apply maximum tolerance in managing the rallies, but earlier national protests this year saw isolated clashes and injuries near other government sites, which helps explain the visible security posture around Luneta and the embassy perimeter this week.

For now, there is no sign that the protests are spreading into a citywide shutdown or that transport disruption is extending to outlying business districts on a systemic basis. The main pressure remains concentrated in and around the Rizal Park corridor.

Analysis

For most visitors and business travelers, the key question is not whether to avoid Manila altogether, but how to move smartly around a dense, time bound protest zone. The Philippines remains under a Level 2, exercise increased caution advisory, which already captures the country's baseline risks from crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping, especially in certain southern regions. The current rallies do not change that national risk classification, and they are not, at this stage, a generalized security emergency for Metro Manila.

What they do change is the predictability of movement around Manila Bay, Rizal Park, and the embassy quarter. When hundreds of thousands of people gather near the waterfront and the main park, roads like Roxas Boulevard and Padre Burgos Avenue become less like through routes and more like extended holding pens for vehicles, with police periodically locking down intersections, blocking left turns, or diverting traffic to protect pedestrian flows.

Background, how this affects transfers

A typical transfer from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Makati or Bonifacio Global City uses the NAIA Expressway and the Skyway to jump directly into the business districts, which keeps cars away from the bayfront. By contrast, many transfer routes to bayfront hotels, Intramuros, and parts of Ermita and Malate naturally follow coastal roads and entrances that run close to Luneta and the U S Embassy. During the protests, that second pattern becomes problematic.

If a hotel, tour, or meeting is located in or near the bayfront protest zone, travelers should expect delays even if they avoid the most obviously closed roads. Police can, and often do, add ad hoc diversions or temporary controls that are not listed in advance, especially when crowds swell or leaders call for processions that spill beyond the original footprint.

Practical routing choices

If you are landing at Ninoy Aquino International Airport between November 16 and 18 and heading to a hotel along Manila Bay, in Intramuros, or near the embassy, build a generous delay buffer into your plan. Adding 60 to 90 minutes to the usual transfer time is a reasonable baseline if your driver indicates that routes around Roxas Boulevard and Luneta remain congested.

Ask your hotel or transfer provider which route they intend to use. When possible, favor itineraries that rely on the NAIA Expressway, the Skyway, and inner city arteries that approach Intramuros or Ermita from the east, rather than hugging the bayfront near the Quirino Grandstand and embassy compound. If you must be in the Luneta area, consider being dropped a few blocks away, where traffic still moves, and finishing the last stretch on foot, provided local authorities and conditions make that safe.

Reschedule non essential embassy visits and administrative errands. With routine services suspended on November 18 and heavy crowding surrounding the compound, it makes little sense to try to squeeze in a last minute consular appointment, and some services may be postponed in any case.

Tours that rely on tight sequences of landmarks in Intramuros, Rizal Park, and the bayfront should also be treated with caution. Operators may need to reorder stops, cut specific viewpoints, or adjust pickup times to account for local closures. If a tour is nonrefundable and the operator plans to run it, ask for written confirmation of the pickup point and any protest related changes.

Ultimately, the biggest risk for most travelers during the November 16 to 18 window is not personal safety, but frustration, missed flights, and broken plans caused by gridlock, last minute checkpoints, and a city center that is temporarily dominated by one very large story.

Final thoughts

The Manila protests at Rizal Park and around the U S Embassy illustrate how a corruption scandal and a politically powerful religious movement can turn a familiar tourist area into a slow moving protest corridor for several days, without necessarily shifting the broader national risk picture. For travelers and advisors, the right move is to keep trips to Metro Manila on the calendar, but treat November 16 to 18 as a low mobility window for the Luneta and bayfront zones, with extra time on the clock, rerouted transfers, and no tightly timed visits to the embassy or nearby sights until the rallies wind down.