ONE OF THE 16 youths who were illegally arrested after conducting a peaceful protest action at the Ro­ton­da in Ba­ra­ngay Pa­la, Ili­gan City on June 12 said that she still could not stop crying due to trauma.

Majority of those arrested were former students of the Min­da­nao Sta­te Univer­sity-Ili­gan Insti­tu­te of Techno­logy. They were apprehended by police troops after their protest. While attempting to flee, the victims heard a police officer shout “pu­sila, pu­si­la!” (shoot them, shoot them!). An activist who attempted to explain was restrained by chokehold. T
Their cellphones were confiscated and they were forcibly taken to a police precint where they were interrogated and threatened. Four of them were maliciously tagged as having links with the New People’s Army. During the interrogation, the victims discovered the extent of police surveillance on them.

They were detained for seven hours before their lawyers were able to get them out. The protest was part of the coordinated nationwide “maña­ni­ta” against the Anti-Ter­ror Bill.