Marilyn Cahatol

Article (news)

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Witnesses recalled their harrowing experience after tension broke out between policemen and demonstrators in Recto, Manila on Sunday.Lorenzo Junio, the administrator of the building where a ransacked hotel is located, said he immediately ordered the gates to be closed to protect businesses inside their building.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/21/protest-turns-into-deadly-riot-as-demonstrators-attack-establishments-along-recto-avenue-2027">Protest turns into riot as &#x27;demonstrators&#x27; attack establishments along Recto Avenue</a></div>&quot;Bago pa lang, pinasara, pina-secure ko na, pina-padlock, kasi delikado. Ang na-damage lang itong SOGO,&quot; he said.(I ordered our building to be closed when tension was starting. I asked it to be locked and secured because the situation was volatile. Only SOGO was damaged.)&quot;Nung bandang 5:30 p.m., ang unang binanatan, yung mga nakapaskil ng gobyerno, yun pinagbabasag, tapos nabaling atensyon dito eh. Nung di mag-iba, pinagpapalo ng maso, umapoy na,&quot; he recounted.(By 5:30 p.m., they first destroyed the posters from the local government. Then they diverted their attention to our doors. They tried to hit it to no avail. Then we saw fires.)Junio said the rioters looted the hotel.&quot;Pinagkukuha ang mga gamit, cellphone, pera, kaha, tinakbo palabas. Kung di kami naging maagap, durog kami dito,&quot; Junio said.(They took several things, cellphone, cash, and their cash register. If we weren&#x27;t able to close the building, they would have gone after us.)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/-utak-adik-utak-talangka-isko-bumanat-sa-mga-nag-riot-sa-maynila-0825">&#x27;Utak adik, utak talangka&#x27;: Isko bumanat sa mga nag-riot sa Maynila</a></div>Another witness shared that some of the rioters took bottles of softdrinks from a small vendor, drank, and threw the bottles to instigate fear.&quot;Nagkawala mga paninda, yung iba nagtakbuhan sa loob dala paninda, yung iba tumakbo patawid,&quot; said Emily Chua, a small business owner.(Most people took their wares inside, some ran to cross the street.)&quot;Ito yung paninda, kinuha nila. Yung softdrinks kinuha agad nila. Kung di naitago ubos yan, winawarak pa nila,&quot; she added.(They took the food being sold. They took the softdrinks. If we were not able to hide, they would have finished them.)&quot;Ininom nila tas yung bote binabato nila sa mga tao, walang pakundangan kahit sino ang tamaan,&quot; she recounted.(They would consume the softdrinks and they throw the bottles at people)Jeanette Lubao also said they were terrified when violence broke out.&quot;Syempre isasarado mo agad, pati kabilang shop pinasara agad, may nakapasok na estudyante, pero pilit binubuksan ng kabataan, nakaw talaga. Nakakapit sila dun sa rollup,&quot; she said.(We closed our doors immediately, even in our other shops. Some students took cover. The youth were forcing to open, I believe they want to steal. But our employees held the doors firmly.)One of Lubao&#x27;s staff in their printing business was teargassed. The rollup doors in closed shops around the hotel were also vandalized.Police in the Philippine capital <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/22/93-police-officers-injured-113-protesters-arrested-in-violent-september-21-demonstration-0843">arrested more than 200 people </a>during clashes with masked protesters that erupted on a day of largely peaceful anti-corruption demonstrations, a spokesperson said Monday.At least 88 minors were among the initial count of 216 taken into custody Sunday as police deployed water cannons and deafening sirens against crowds of mostly young, rock-throwing protesters.Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno said a 12-year-old boy was the youngest detained.Thousands of Filipinos rallied in Manila on Sunday to vent their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.The scandal has seen numerous lawmakers implicated and the leaders of both houses of Congress step down from their positions during an investigation.But Sunday&#x27;s street battles, which saw multiple police vehicles set ablaze and the windows of a precinct headquarters shattered, threatened to overshadow demonstrations that had been filled with families, activists, clergy and politicians.<div>RELATED VIDEO:</div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u2BCSRyhbJo?si=Ld49FjUY2Twd1Pya" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> </div>

Witnesses recalled their harrowing experience after tension broke out between policemen and demonstrators in Recto, Manila on Sunday.

Witnesses recalled their harrowing experience after tension broke out between policemen and demonstrators in Recto, Manila on Sunday.

'Walang pakundangan kahit sino ang tamaan': Witnesses recount violence, looting by Manila rioters

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'Walang pakundangan kahit sino ang tamaan': Witnesses recount violence, looting by Manila rioters

Jervis Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 22, 2025 02:33 PM PHT

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Recto

Mendiola

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