Free the Mendiola Detainees!
They Stand With Us in the Fight Against Corruption!
What happened in Mendiola on September 21 was not mere
chaos. The anger of the youth and the people is a legitimate response to
decades of oppression and plunder by the state and its capitalist allies. Their
courage and the forms of protest they chose—no matter how intense or unfamiliar
to some—are born out of deep poverty, the tokhang killings that claimed
thousands of lives, demolitions and forced evictions, and the systematic
looting of the nation’s wealth.
The government’s response was once again violence: over 200
were arrested, many beaten and struck with batons, including young
people—branded as “criminals,” “rioters,” and “addicts” instead of having their
demands heard. Time and again, the state chooses repression rather than
addressing the roots of people’s anger and resistance.
We condemn this police brutality. All those arrested must be
freed immediately, with their rights to legal and medical support guaranteed.
Their struggle is not separate from the struggle of every worker and poor
person exploited daily under this system.
Mendiola is a reminder: the anger is not just that of the
youth, but of an entire people long abandoned by the government. As long as
power rests in the hands of a wealthy few and political dynasties, the people’s
rage will continue to ignite.
We stand firmly with the youth, workers, and poor in their fight against poverty and corruption! What we need are genuine political and social reforms—ones that will break the stranglehold of corrupt politicians and greedy capitalists, and pave the way toward social justice.
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