Alleged rioters in Mendiola-Recto unrest file counter-affidavits in sedition, inciting to sedition complaints

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January 28, 2026 | 7:09pm

MANILA, Philippines — Some of the individuals who allegedly participated in the Mendiola-Recto riots in September 2025 have filed counter-affidavits in the complaints lodged against them by the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

The complaints were for inciting to sedition and sedition under the Revised Penal Code, stemming from the riots that occurred in Mendiola and Recto Avenue during the anti-corruption protests on Sept. 21, 2025.

The individuals, most of whom are youths, filed their counter-affidavits at the Department of Justice on Wednesday, January 28.

Lawyer Katherine Panguban of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, who represents one of the respondents, said that some of the other individuals were apprehended by police at Ayala Bridge, where the riot began.

She recalled that the riot erupted on the afternoon of Sept. 21 at Ayala Bridge and later spread to Mendiola and Recto avenues in Manila after police intervened to contain the unrest.

Panguban also said she is representing an 18-year-old male who was merely a bystander during the riots at Ayala Bridge.

"Walang participation, kasi talagang nandon lang, nagkataon na nandon," Panguban told in an interview with reporters. 

(He had no participation; he just happened to be at the scene.)

Last year, the PNP said it filed complaints against 97 individuals in connection with the riots.

The unrest left two people dead and 216 arrested, some of whom were minors.