HUMAN rights and church groups called on for the release of over 200 protesters, including children and bystanders, who joined this year's biggest anti-corruption rallies in the Catholic-majority Philippines on September 21, 2025.
“Many of those arrested were simply exercising their right to free speech and peaceful assembly, while others were ordinary bystanders indiscriminately picked up. Their only supposed ‘offense’ was being present at or near the rally — proof that the arrests were arbitrary and the complaints are nothing more than harassment cases,” said lawyer and Karapatan deputy secretary general Maria Sol Taule on September 25.
“All photos, videos, and more importantly, the accounts of victims and witnesses clearly show that the Manila Police District (MPD) used violent, excessive, and arbitrary force against the protesters and all those who fell victim to these mass arrests,” she added.
The youth protesters, who were not mainly part of organized protest groups, were charged with “illegal assembly,” “direct assault,” “resistance and disobedience,” “tumultuous disturbance,” “malicious mischief,” and violations of Batasang Pambansa Blg. 880, which was dubbed by the rights group as "the Marcos-era Public Assembly Act long criticized for curtailing the people’s right to protest."
On September 25, counsels from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Public Interest Law Center (PILC), and Sentra filed an urgent motion, seeking the dismissal of the complaints and the immediate release of all detainees.
“Despite being taken into custody as early as 3:00 p.m. on September 21, they were only subjected to inquest proceedings days later, on September 23 and 24 — well beyond the 12, 18, or 36-hour maximum periods mandated by Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code,” the counsels' motion read.
“By detaining them for more than 36 hours without filing proper charges, the Manila Police District and the prosecutors have committed a blatant violation of due process and constitutional guarantees,” Karapatan group said in a statement on September 25.
Pastor Irma Balaba, spokesperson of ecumenical political organization Promotion of Church People's Response, asked why is it so easy for the public to pass judgment on the poor whenever they rise up against abuse, yet so difficult to hold accountable those in power who betray the very people they vowed to serve.
"The protest in Mendiola raises this uncomfortable question. The poor, weighed down by poverty and neglect, took their cries to the streets. But instead of listening, society branded them as violent, disruptive, and ungrateful," Balaba told Sunstar Philippines on September 25.
"If we condemn the oppressed more than we question their oppressors, we betray our own conscience. To reflect deeply on Mendiola is to ask ourselves: Where does our loyalty truly lie—with the power that exploits, or with the people who suffer?" Balaba added.
Meanwhile, the Council of Bishops of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) said that what unfolded in Mendiola of capital Manila and elsewhere "revealed a disturbing repetition of the same playbook of tyranny."
"When the peaceful rally was disrupted, unlawful arrests and excessive use of force were unleashed. Tear gas, water cannons, and police batons rained down on innocent protesters," the council said in a statement on September 24, as they called for the immediate release of the protesters.
"Many were bloodied and traumatized, all for daring to stand for justice. This cycle of violence exposes the brokenness of a system that shields the corrupt while criminalizing peoples' dissent," it added.
As this developed, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso said that there are "angles that point to possible instigators, including a lawyer, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, and a politician allegedly providing funds to rioters."
“Maybe to create chaos and destroy credibility, to make an impression that these people are rowdy,” he said in a public statement on September 23.
The September 21 rallies in Manila attended by 100,000 people was in response to a multi-billion pesos anomalous, "ghost," and graft-ridden public flood control and infrastructure projects across the country for years. (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines)