244 arrested for violent Sept. 21 mass actions

A total of 244 people, including 103 minors, were arrested for alleged involvement in the violence that erupted during last Sunday's daylong protest actions against corruption.

- JANVIC MATEO

Police are eyeing the filing of sedition charges against those behind the violence on Mendiola and Claro M. Recto streets as participants of the Trillion Peso March and the Baha sa Luneta rallies at the EDSA Shrine and in Rizal Park began to peacefully disperse.

Young men mostly wearing black shirts and masks destroyed lampposts and traffic signals and set fire to a shipping container and old tires. They also lobbed rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at the ranks of crowd control police.

Police Maj. Hazel Asilo, spokesperson for the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), confirmed that a hip-hop rapper was among those identified as possible "instigators" of the violence.

“We are checking if there is someone backing up this person and if he is being used to influence the youth,” Asilo said in Filipino in an interview with “Storycon” on One News.

“We are not ruling out the angle that he is not really the one behind all of this... We are examining the possibility that there are others involved,” she added.

For the arrested adults, she said they are eyeing charges of illegal assembly, resistance and disobedience, direct assault, malicious mischief, arson and illegal possession of explosives.

The sense of discernment of the apprehended minors would be determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to guide authorities in the filing of possible charges.

Asilo said some of the minors were already determined to be "children at risk" or those who might be influenced by others.

She confirmed that one person died due to stabbing, but said they are still verifying if the attack was connected to the protests.