KARAPATAN: Release ​Illegally Arrested Protesters Now!

[KARAPATAN Public Information]

PRESS RELEASE
September 25, 2025

References: Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN Deputy Secretary General, 09452966916

KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 0918-9790580

KARAPATAN: Release Illegally Arrested Protesters Now!

Human rights alliance KARAPATAN today condemned the continuing detention of more than 200 persons — protesters and even bystanders — who were illegally arrested during and after the September 21 rallies in Manila.

“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,” said Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN deputy secretary general.

Police arrested individuals at various points along Ayala Bridge, C.M. Recto Avenue, Mendiola, and nearby areas without warrants and on no legal grounds.

“Not only young people, whom the police branded as 'rioters', were victims of these mass arrests. Among those rounded up are students, vendors, delivery riders, construction workers, bystanders, and even persons with disabilities. It is clearly evident that the police went on an arresting spree, indiscriminately taking anyone within their sight. We strongly condemn the malicious intent of the MPD, as well as the local government unit, for vilifying the arrested by claiming that they created chaos. In truth, they are the real victims here,” Taule said.

KARAPATAN expressed full support for the urgent motion filed today by counsels from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Public Interest Law Center (PILC), and SENTRA 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 motion read.

“By detaining them for more than 36 hours without filing proper charges, the MPD and the prosecutors have committed a blatant violation of due process and constitutional guarantees,” KARAPATAN emphasized.

“This is not just a procedural lapse — it strikes at the very heart of civil liberties and reveals the lengths the state will go to assert its so-called authority, which is rotten to the core,” Taule added.

The police have filed a litany of charges against the detainees: “illegal assembly,” “direct assault,” “resistance and disobedience,” “tumultuous disturbance,” “malicious mischief,” and violations of Batasang Pambansa Blg. 880 — the Marcos-era Public Assembly Act long criticized for curtailing the people’s right to protest.

“These charges are flimsy and unfounded,” KARAPATAN asserted. “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,” Taule said.

KARAPATAN stressed that the September 21 mobilizations were meant to remember the horrors of authoritarian rule and to demand accountability on urgent issues of corruption, flooding, and impunity.

“The State violence unleashed by the police and the LGU against the September 21 protests only underscores the fascist character of the Marcos Jr. government — a regime at the helm of corruption, plunder of public funds, and continuing attacks on the people’s rights,” the group concluded.

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Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights

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Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.