In the Philippines, 216 people were arrested following anti-corruption protests, including 91 minors

Photo by BAYAN Facebook Page

Trigger Warning: Police Violence
Disclaimer: The details shared in this blog come from eyewitnesses and attendees, including accounts from organizers, journalists, and social media sources. Video sources are linked throughout the timeline outlined in this blog.

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos marched along the streets in different cities around the country seeking accountability and condemning government corruption of billions, even trillions of the people’s taxes, on the exposed issue of flood control projects under the Marcos Jr administration, even spanning back during the previous Duterte administration and further.

In Metro Manila, two major protest centers were announced – the first one along Kilometer 0 in Luneta Park, Manila City led by Bagong Alyansang Makabyan (BAYAN) which started early morning, the second along EDSA at the People Power Monument led by church groups which started in the afternoon.

In both groups, the call was clear: hold all corrupt officials accountable. But one stood out more than the other.

Tensions rise in Mendiola

After a historic gathering of anti-corruption groups and individuals in Luneta, with over 100,000 protesters including K-pop and P-pop stans, cosplayers, bicycle groups, students, hip-hop crews, celebrities, and more, the protesters made their way towards one of the gates to Malacanang, the Mendiola Peace Arch.

Clad in black, thousands marched along the streets of Manila to demand accountability from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. But unbeknownst to most protesters and even protest organizers, a small group of youth already went ahead to Mendiola via the Ayala Bridge. There, they were met with a police barricade and a trailer truck blocking the road. This is the first incident of violence during the September 21 protests.

Protesters clashed with police along the Ayala Bridge barricade. Stones were thrown, a police motorcycle and part of the trailer truck was burned, all to show the young protester’s festered anger against the corruption of government officials.

One of them, a 19 year-old street vendor, said that he couldn’t stand the news that government officials have been pocketing billions of pesos of their taxes while they lived in poverty. After a couple of minutes, police charged at the protesters, brutally beating them up with their fists, batons, and riot shields, then rounding them up to be arrested.

Even bystanders were not spared. One such case was with a person with disability who happened to be standing by a jeepney—Alexis ‘Chokoy’ Lasic. A member of Young Marikina Artists’ Collective, Chokoy was only waiting outside their rented jeepney, which also had Senior Citizens on board, parked near Ayala Blvd. corner San Marcelino Street when the riot began. Chokoy was then arbitrarily taken, beaten, and arrested by scores of police officers claiming he was part of the group throwing rocks at them.

All this was happening as thousands were marching towards Mendiola via another route.

Anger floods Mendiola

At around 3PM, the protest march led by BAYAN was able to reach the other side of Recto Avenue near the Mendiola Peace Arch. Scores of protesters led by a large delegation of youth yelling “Ikulong na yan, mga kurakot!” (Jail all the corrupt) filled the intersection. The program started and ended as any typical peaceful protest usually does as the emcee announces that everyone disperse in an organized fashion. But an eerie silence with whispers filled the air.

Some of the first-time protesters can be heard saying “that’s it?” and “it’s over? We’re not doing anything else?”

Then, it starts. Just 5 minutes after the protest program ended, a group of protesters brimming with rage threw plastic bottles at the police barricade. Organizers tried their best to calm the situation, but the anger of the young protesters was not to be dismissed. A loud whistle then a bang was heard all around as one protester threw a firework at the police. The explosion, loud as it was, was drowned out by the screams of young protesters rushing back to the police barricade - stones, bottles, sticks, and Molotov cocktails in hand.

After about 10 minutes of unrelenting pelting by the protesters, the Manila police rushed forward clad in full riot gear, hitting everyone and anyone in their line of sight, arresting anyone they can, surrounding them, then beating them up in groups. Even journalists weren’t spared from the police’s brutality as a young photojournalist was also assaulted by the police.

Cannisters of teargas were fired at the protesters, a fact that is being denied even by the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jonvic Remulla, but debunked by video evidence posted online by the alternative media from crowd-sourced footage.

But the young protesters weren’t to be messed with. Though their acts of anger may be seen as desperate attempts to change a system that has abused them and kept them poor and hungry as far back as they can remember, they showed bravery and resolve by not letting their own be taken so easily and beaten up by the police that they all saw as protectors of the corrupt, as seen from all the ACAB graffiti on the walls that they also painted on.

As one protester gets arrested, several rush forward to their aid to outnumber the cops to get them free. This back-and-forth continues well into the night as the protesters hold their lines against the advancing police. Hours later, as police start arresting en masse along Recto Avenue, a gun shot is heard. Based on videos posted online, a man believed to be a police in plain clothes, fires a gun then rushes inside a SOGO motel. This act prompts the already enraged protesters to chase him, breaking down the glass windows and doors of the motel to get him out.

SWAT teams then arrive at the SOGO motel to exact more police brutality. Several videos online showed how these supposedly well-trained SWAT members abused their authority – one of them using a protester as a human shield, and another one seen dragging a single protester up the SOGO motel to be beaten by multiple motel staff.

After the storm

Rights groups, lawyers, and progressive organizations headed to the Manila Police District headquarters to aid and represent the arrested protesters. No one was allowed to enter, not even family members who arrived to know what happened to their children.

It took until the next day for anyone to be able to enter. Representatives from the Makabayan bloc and a few lawyers were allowed to enter, but family was still barred.

According to the DILG, a total of 216 were arrested by the police with 91 of them being minors, a number of them are yet to be found as they were jailed in different precincts around Manila making it difficult for paralegals and lawyers to locate them quickly to provide legal representation.

As of writing this September 24, a full 3 days after the mass arrests, the inquest proceedings for the Mendiola 216 have yet to start. Family, organizations, lawyers, and other supporters troop to the Manila Police District daily to demand they be allowed to enter freely and know how the protesters are being treated.