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| Traffic at a standstill on Edsa as thousands gather for the anti-corruption protest |
Unidentified rioters clashed with police near Malacañang Palace Sunday, casting a shadow on two massive anti-corruption rallies held separately in Manila and Quezon City earlier.
Police said 17 rioters were arrested, while 40
police officers were injured in the scuffles near the Mendiola Peace Arch and Ayala
Bridge, which had both been barricaded ahead of the protests.
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| PINDUTIN DITO |
Black-clad and masked rioters clashed with
police and torched a container truck parked on Ayala Bridge and a police
motorcycle parked close by. They also hurled stones, bottles, paint, human feces
at the officers, who were under strict orders to exercise maximum tolerance.
The protests continued until late at night, with a hotel on nearby Recto Avenue being looted, ransacked and trashed by the rioters, according to eyewitnesses.
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| The torched container truck on Ayala Bridge |
Earlier, tens of thousands of
people took part in both the “Trillion Peso March” in front of People Power
Monument on Edsa (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) in Quezon City and the “Baha sa
Luneta” gathering at Luneta Park in Manila.
The protests were held on the
53rd anniversary of Martial Law declared by the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., and organizers said it was fitting that the abuses of
that regime could be linked to the present-day corruption.
The indignation rallies were
held in the wake of reports and disclosures that billions, if not trillions, of
pesos meant for flood control projects had been siphoned by contractors in
collusion with government officials and lawmakers starting in 2016, when jailed
former President Rodrigo Duterte, took power.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Protesters are calling for
punishment for all those involved in the plunder, whatever their political
affiliation, and for the stolen money returned to the people.
The growing scandal has already
led to big political fallouts, including the resignation of House Speaker
Martin Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr, and the
replacement of Senate President Francis Escudero.
Many of those demanding
retribution say President Marcos himself should be held accountable, as the
pillage of the past three years had happened under his watch.
The protest actions started
early, with various groups converging on both venues as early as 6am.
The gathering at the Edsa
Shrine started with a religious service in the morning and a program in the
afternoon. It was attended by many unaffiliated individuals who joined youth
organizations, labor unions and civil society groups in expressing anger at the
country’s biggest corruption in decades.
Among those seen marching to
the venue were movie stars Anne Curtis, Maris Racal, Vice Ganda, Donny
Pangilinan and movie queen Catriona
Gray.
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| Aerial shot of the equally peaceful protest at Luneta Park |
Over at Luneta, the program
started at 9am and was led largely by student groups and progressive
organizations.
Among those called to speak was
Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, a former senator who was jailed at the
instigation of President Duterte, and was cleared of all charges only after he ended
his term in 2022.
As planned, some of the Luneta
protesters led by Bagong Alyansa Makabayan (Bayan), marched towards Malacanang,
but were stopped by police on Mendiola Bridge.
As they were closing the
program and declaring the protest a success, the rioters struck. Bayan president
Renato Reyes was hit in the face in the rock and was rushed to the hospital for
treatment.
Reyes wrote on Facebook: “The
people in Mendiola were angry, years of pent-up anger. We don’t know who the
groups were. They’re not affiliated with Bayan. But we could sense their anger.
And even after we ended the program, they stayed on. They could be provocateurs
or they could just be really angry at what is happening.”
“At the end of this day, the government
cannot ignore the problem of corruption and give so-so responses. Kumukulo ang galit ng tao. Huwag maliitin ng
gobyerno.”
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| Standoff in Mendiola between police and protesters |
Later, Bayan said in a separate
post that 12 of its members were arrested after being caught in the crossfire.
They called for the activists’ release while denouncing what it called as the police’s
“violent response” to the mayhem.
