29/09/2025
Official Statement of the UP Journalism Club on the September 21 Protest Violence and the Detention of the Mendiola 277
On Sept. 21, protesters gathered to commemorate the victims of Martial Law and renew the call for justice. Instead, they were met with a brutal crackdown that left two dead and led to the mass arrest and detention of the Mendiola 277. Among them is Gio Caballes, a student, journalist, and documentarian who was covering the protest. He remains in detention at MPD Baseco, with reports of intimidation, denial of access to counsel, and harassment of relatives who tried to visit. Videos, photos, and testimony confirm how Caballes and many others were zip-tied, dragged away, and silenced for daring to document and speak truth to power.
We condemn the Philippine National Police (PNP) for unleashing indiscriminate violence on citizens who had gathered in peace. Their actions reveal an institution that sees civic protest not as a right but as a threat to be crushed. The denials issued by DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, including claims of zero casualties and narratives of “paid agitators,” are outright falsehoods contradicted by overwhelming evidence. Such lies are not mistakes but deliberate attempts to whitewash violence and justify further repression.
We are equally alarmed by how some coverage echoed official denials and reduced the day’s violence to nothing more than “riots” and “arrests.” To strip Sept. 21 of its context and repeat false lines from those in power is to abandon the very duty of journalism. Journalists are tasked to investigate, not parrot; to hold power accountable, not excuse its abuses. When the press fails in this role, it does not merely misinform. It becomes complicit in silencing the people and legitimizing state violence.
The UP Journalism Club stands in solidarity with the people’s calls and demands for justice. We demand the immediate release of Gio Caballes and all members of the Mendiola 277, and we join the wider movement in holding state forces accountable for their violence.
Their continued detention is a direct assault on the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly. We call on fellow journalists, student publications, and the broader public to resist the narratives that seek to erase what truly happened on September 21. We must remember, document, and speak where the state would rather we remain silent. Free Gio Caballes. Free the Mendiola 277. Justice for all victims of police brutality.