244, including over 100 minors, arrested in Manila protests

National

AUTHORITIES rounded up 244 protesters, more than 100 of them minors, after anti-corruption rallies in Manila on Sunday, Sept. 21, escalated into violence.

Clashes erupted in Mendiola and Claro M. Recto streets, where participants in the Trillion Peso March and the “Baha sa Luneta” rallies had initially gathered peacefully.

Masked youths, mostly dressed in black, vandalized lampposts and traffic signals, set fire to tires and a shipping container, and hurled rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails at police.

Maj. Hazel Asilo, spokesperson for the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), identified a hip-hop rapper as a potential instigator. “We are checking if there is someone backing up this person and if he is being used to influence the youth,” she said in Filipino in an interview with Storycon, as quoted by Philstar.

She added that authorities are investigating whether others may have been involved in orchestrating the violence.

Authorities plan to charge adults with illegal assembly, resistance and disobedience, direct assault, malicious mischief, arson, and illegal possession of explosives.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development will determine minors’ legal responsibility. Some minors were already deemed “children at risk,” possibly influenced by others.

One person died in a stabbing, and another remains unconscious from a gunshot wound.

Police emphasized that officers were unarmed, carrying only batons and shields, and are still investigating who fired the shots.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla reported that a local terrorist group had allegedly planned bomb attacks targeting the protests, prompting deployment of 400 plainclothes officers.(MyTVCebu)