Violence Erupts In Mendiola; Masked Youths Attack Cops

Masked youths clashed with riot police at Ayala Bridge and later at the Mendiola Peace Arch on Sunday, Sept. 21, leaving around 100 police and several others injured and at least 19 arrested, including minors as young as 11.

Those arrested belong to a group of about 400 people, which joined the “Baha sa Luneta” rally in Rizal Park. The masked youths, mostly in black shirts, attempted to breach police barricades leading to Malacañang.

At Ayala Bridge, they hurled rocks, bottles and metal fences at police, threw a Molotov cocktail and set fire to a trailer truck before being forced back. Firefighters and police responded immediately, and the situation was declared contained.

By mid-afternoon, the crowd regrouped at Mendiola, where rioters again pelted officers with projectiles and firecrackers. Police responded with water cannons, teargas and a long-range acoustic device to contain the disturbance.

Radio dzBB reporter Manny Vargas was among those injured by debris thrown during the melee.

Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) president Renato Reyes, in a post on his X account, confirmed he was brought to the emergency room after sustaining a head injury due to a stone thrown during the commotion in Mendiola.

“The Bayan program had ended, we were already leaving when a commotion broke out. Stones were being thrown and I got hit in the head. The people who stayed in Mendiola were angry, years of pent up anger,” he said.

According to Maj. Philipp Ines, Manila Police District spokesman, around 100 police officers sustained injuries during the clashes.

“Some of them were already brought to the hospital,” he told radio dzMM.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla conducted an inspection in both areas following the incidents. He said they will continue to exercise maximum tolerance but will act accordingly if protesters resort to violence.

“We are for the accountability of the public officials but we are still against instability,” he said.

Authorities said some of the protesters carried Philippine flags and banners marked with the “Straw Hat Pirates” emblem, a symbol of anti-corruption demonstrations in other countries.

“We respect the public’s right to peaceful assembly, but we strongly appeal to everyone to remain calm and refrain from violence. Such actions endanger lives and undermine the message of those who wish to protest peacefully,” the Philippine National Police said.

“The PNP remains committed to safeguarding both the public and demonstrators. We will continue to exercise maximum tolerance, but we will also act against anyone who causes harm or damages property. Rest assured, those responsible for these acts will be held accountable under the law,” it added.

Before the rallies started, acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez appealed for calm from the protesters, stressing they are one with them in expressing disgust at the corruption in flood control projects.

“This issue is also a subject of discussions among our personnel in every police camp and every police station,” he said in a statement.

“We know how it feels because your police are not only victims of flooding – your police are also among the witnesses, and among the first responders to the adverse effects of the wide-spread flooding,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bayan secretary general Raymond Palatino said they are verifying reports that 12 protesters from their ranks were apprehended.

CICC investigation

At the same time, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is launching an effort to identify the participants in the protest action in Mendiola and Ayala Bridge in Manila.

Lawyer Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the CICC, said that they are tapping their facial recognition tools in the effort to identify the participants in the violent Mendiola rally.

“We have the capability to do facial recognition, both the DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) and the PNP as well as the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). We have the tools to do it,” Paraiso said in a Zoom press conference late afternoon on Monday.

“That’s why we are requesting for raw data from our friends in the media. Because, in our monitoring, while many of them had covers in their faces, there were also many who showed their faces,” he added.

“This would be a valid exercise of police power… if one will read our Data Privacy Act (of 2012), it can be superseded if it is in the exercise of police powers and lawful government functions,” Paraiso said. – With Christine Boton, Rainier Allan Ronda