#mendiola

[maya-chirps]

As important as the news story is, I find it frustrating that ALL coverage about the protests are now zoned in in the conflict in Mendiola and not one is focused on the actual program at EDSA if someone knows a stream that covers what's happening at the People Power Monument please link it please

[estrangherongmata]

Wandering in Mendiola

[ricisidro]

The protesters using a black flag with a skull on it, wearing a straw hat known as the Jolly Roger, joined the Luneta rally but broke off for confrontational actions, including clashes at Ayala Bridge, Mendiola, and Recto Avenue, where they torched vehicles, threw projectiles, and looted a motel. Over 200 were arrested, including at least 89 minors as young as 11.

This is the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates from the popular Japanese cartoon and comic series called One Piece. The main character of the show, Monkey D. Luffy, is the leader of this group. 

The flag, with its symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates, has been adopted by some young protesters in the Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal as a symbol of resistance against injustice and authoritarianism, reflecting the crew's struggle against a corrupt "World Government" in the manga and anime series. 

As of September 2025, the anime series One Piece on Netflix has more than 1,142 episodes. The series is still on-going.

[maya-chirps]

It genuinely does piss me off that international news agencies are choosing to cover the fuckasses at Mendiola than the thousands who marched peacefully and even if they clarify it within their coverage, most of them showcase the Mendiola rioters as clickbait when those people are not only unrepresentative of the majority of the protesters but even actively antithetical to their message.

There's been reports left and right locally here and from people who were near the scene that these people were not just here to try to protest for government accountability like the over 50k that did in both Luneta and EDSA as well as the thousands more in different parts of the country, but were seeking violence to try to install a different corrupt leader they were loyal to. They aren't just disgruntled citizens, they're actively anti-poor because they're stuck in the corrupt ex-president and his daughter the current vice president's cult of personality.

It isn't just American news outlets who do this shit either. European and other Asian outlets also do this and of course even local media do the same thing and it annoys the hell out of me. At least local media has actively stated the facts that this is a separate group from the peaceful protest and are in fact members of that cult of personality.

If you're a foreigner or an uniformed Filipino, these rioters are not only not representative to the actual calls of the people and their demands but are actively harmful and just wish to install their own leader who had also stole so much from us and our taxes that it's actively infuriating. Literally most people who were in the rally in-person or had been actively following and supporting it remotely could tell you that these people do not represent us and it's actively insulting to say so.

[maya-chirps]

There's been reports that some of the protesters at Mendiola had been chanting "Duterte" seemingly in support of the former president and/or his daughter the current vice president. I believe this may be after the first ten-wheeler truck fire but before the second motorcycle fire and it does line up with videos and photos of people who are said to be pro-Duterte marching down Mendiola.

The pro-Duterte camp had held a simultaneous rally of their own which focused more on trying to both pray and receive the former president Rodrigo Duterte back home as well as to expel the current president in order to put the vice president Sara Duterte as the new president. A pro-Duterte group has also tried to go into the EDSA Trillion Peso March which caused a verbal confrontation with other protesters as well as a group (unsure if it's the same one) being booed by other protesters as well.

[estrangherongmata]

A day in mendiola

[ricisidro]

Today's frontpage, Tuesday, 23 September 2025

A total of 244 people, including 103 minors, were arrested for alleged involvement in the violence that erupted in Ayala Bridge, Recto Avenue and Mendiola during day-long protest actions against corruption on September 21, 2025.

-https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/09/23/2474790/244-arrested-violent-september-21-mass-actions

-https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2113577/palace-vows-justice-vs-groups-behind-riots

[maya-chirps]

I think the most disturbing information that's been coming out from the Mendiola/Recto conflict is that some of the people who were causing problems had been revealed to be minors with some of them coming from different provinces causing speculation that these children were paid to be there. One of the people I've seen photos of cannot be older than 16 and its very disturbing.

Of course, there is no way to prove if these people were being genuine or were simply being paid because they aren't talking and the main assumption that people definitely took is that they're being genuine but someone's definitely out there sending these kids to be radicals and fight in the front lines to attack genuinely innocent people like those poor hotel employees and the news reporters they also attacked.