Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Members of Bayan and other progressive groups hold a protest against the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio near the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, which was cut short after a clash with police.  The protesters carry placards and a banner declaring "War criminal Marco Rubio, not welcome in the Philippines" as they denounce Rubio’s visit to the country and the US' military presence in the Philippines. | via Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Members of Bayan and other progressive groups hold a protest against the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio near the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, which was cut short after a clash with police.

The protesters carry placards and a banner declaring "War criminal Marco Rubio, not welcome in the Philippines" as they denounce Rubio’s visit to the country and the US' military presence in the Philippines. | via Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Karen De Guzman

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784795715001754872587_2337840960352710_6349710930468161123_n.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Members of Bayan and other progressive groups hold a protest against the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio near the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, which was cut short after a clash with police. The protesters carry placards and a banner declaring &quot;War criminal Marco Rubio, not welcome in the Philippines&quot; as they denounce Rubio’s visit to the country and the US&#x27; military presence in the Philippines. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Members of Bayan and other progressive groups hold a protest against the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio near the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, which was cut short after a clash with police. The protesters carry placards and a banner declaring &quot;War criminal Marco Rubio, not welcome in the Philippines&quot; as they denounce Rubio’s visit to the country and the US&#x27; military presence in the Philippines. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday maintained that it does not prevent journalists from documenting police operations a day after it announced an investigation into police officers allegedly trying to arrest photojournalists covering a protest near the venue of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Pasay City.</p><p>PNP Public Information Office chief PCol. Allen Rae Co said the confrontation stemmed from a &quot;lightning rally&quot; staged by a group that allegedly had no permit and attempted to enter a restricted area secured for the safety of foreign delegates.</p><p>“[T]hey were stopped and prevented by the police from doing so dahil ito ay (because it was a) restricted area,” he explained.</p><p>Photojournalists covering the protest claimed they were harassed by police officers. Video of the incident showed officers trying to handcuff veteran photojournalist Bullit Marquez even as bystanders identified him as member of the media.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/22/pnp-chief-denies-photojournalists-were-harassed-during-manila-rally-2055">PNP chief denies photojournalists were harassed during Manila rally</a></div><p>“Tinitingnan natin kung ano talaga ang nangyari. We are not saying na wala pong pagkakamali ang ating pulis. It will all come out sa ating investigation,” he said.</p><p>(We are looking into what happened. We are not saying the police officers didn&#x27;t have lapses.)</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>JOURNALISTS MAY HAVE BEEN MISIDENTIFIED AS PROTESTERS</strong></div><p>He added that investigators are looking into whether the media workers may have been mistaken for protesters amid the commotion, but said this has yet to be established.</p><p>He said one of the individuals involved reportedly had no visible media identification and had dropped his camera during the incident, making it difficult for responding officers to immediately identify him as a journalist.</p><p>“We do not make it a practice to prevent any journalist from documenting ‘yung mga arrest or anumang ginagawa ng ating kapulisan,” Co said. </p><p>Media groups have condemned the incident involving Marquez and Manila Times photo editor Rene Dilan.</p><p>Jian Sanz, an environmental activist and a contributor to alternatives news site Bulatlat, was also arrested and briefly detained during the protest on Wednesday.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/22/anti-us-protesters-clash-with-police-amid-rubio-visit-2-journalists-nearly-arrested-1323">Anti-US protesters clash with police during Rubio visit; 2 journalists nearly arrested</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>DE LIMA CALLS INCIDENT &#x27;UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE&#x27;</strong></div><p>Mamamayang Liberal Party-List Rep. Leila de Lima on Wednesday night called the attempt to arrest Marquez and Dilan &quot;utterly unacceptable.&quot;</p><p>She said there was no reason to prevent them from doing their jobs as photojournalists.</p><p>&quot;Beyond the damaged equipment, what is more troubling is the chilling effect that these deplorable actions have on the media,&quot; she said.</p><p>De Lima added the incident emphasizes the need to pass the Journalists’ Welfare and Protection Act that she has proposed.</p><p>That bill seeks to establish a framework to protect journalists and to require insurance and hazard pay for media workers.</p>

<p>The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday maintained that it does not prevent journalists from documenting police operations a day after it announced an investigation into police officers allegedly trying to arrest photojournalists covering a protest in Pasay City.</p>

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday maintained that it does not prevent journalists from documenting police operations a day after it announced an investigation into police officers allegedly trying to arrest photojournalists covering a protest in Pasay City.

PNP maintains it doesn't prevent media from covering arrests, police activities

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PNP maintains it doesn't prevent media from covering arrests, police activities

Karen De Guzman,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 23, 2026 04:43 PM PHT

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Philippine National Police

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