The group of church people One Faith. One Nation. One Voice. called for respect for the rights of the youth violently arrested by police during the protest and clash in Mendiola on September 21. According to the latest report from Karapatan and the National Union of People’s Lawyers, police apprehended 277 individuals, including nearly 100 minors.
The arrests occurred after a confrontation broke out at Ayala Bridge, followed by another clash in Mendiola. Videos documented the police’s brutal assault against the youth, including beating them with truncheons, kicking, and injurious dragging. Many reports stated that police arrested individuals simply for being at the site of the incident.
“These youth—already battered by poverty, flooding, and neglect—deserve compassion, not condemnation,” One Faith. One Nation. One Voice. convenor most Rev. Gerardo A. Alminaza, DD said. He stated that their group stands united in the call for the immediate release of those arrested.
Bishop Alminaza also said that any denial of due process for the victims in accordance with the law is further proof of the abuse of power the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos protested against on September 21. Human rights groups reported that more than a day passed before the detainees faced inquest proceedings and formal charges, or even received medical care and food.
Bishop Alminaza urged people to recognize the deeper truth behind the confrontation in Mendiola: that poverty itself is a form of violence. “Hunger, neglect, and corruption inflict daily wounds on the poor that are far harsher than any outburst in the streets,” he said.
He added that the poor rising in anger are not creating violence but are exposing it. “Their cries reveal the injustice of a kleptocracy that has stolen not only public funds but also their future,” he declared.
As a participant in the protests of September 21, Bishop Alminaza personally felt from the speeches and chants of the people their anger against corruption and abuse. “True peace cannot be achieved by silencing this anger, but only by dismantling the structures of corruption and oppression that provoke it,” he said.
He also rejected labeling the protesting youth as thugs. He said the real criminals are the architects and defenders of kleptocracy. “They must be held accountable for betraying our country,” he emphasized.
For Bishop Alminaza, the youth, including those from the urban poor, represent the nation’s future. “Their anger must be heard, their right to resist must be respected, and their energy must be directed towards meaningful change,” he stated.
