By Diego Morra
Labor groups and human rights defenders called for justice and accountability for the death of construction worker Eric Saber, who was shot by members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Manila Police on September 21 in Manila. Clearly, the police bear responsibility for the killing of Saber, whom doctors tried to save but died of his injuries on September 24.
Based on the findings of the human rights watchdog Karapatan, Saber came from his work in Pasay City, alighted at the LRT-1 Recto Station but was hit by a bullet fired from an assault rifle brandished by SWAT gunmen who indiscriminately shot groups of protesters at Mendiola and Recto. He was felled while at Recto Ave. to ride a jeep. Doctors at the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital valiantly tried to save him but failed.
As Saber succumbed, the suspected killer of Mark Chustin Serbo, 15, surrendered. Serbo was fighting back advancing riot policemen when the suspect, a civilian, tried to stop the boy by stabbing him at the corner of Recto Ave. and Quezon Boulevard. Serbo, a resident of Taguig City, joined the Luneta protest against corruption and marched to Mendiola in commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of the despised martial law by Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Anakbayan Taguig mourned Serbo’s death and vowed to seek justice for his killing. Saber and Serbo are but two of the confirmed fatalities of the September 21, 2025 protest rallies, Karapatan disclosed.
It is strange for the Philippine National Police (PNP) to deploy combat-ready SWAT units to disperse protesters despite the presence of riot policemen who had already used tear gas and trained high-pressure fire hoses on the rallyists, prompting the clashes. The deaths of Saber and Serbo destroys the claim of the PNP under Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez that no one was killed during the dispersal operations of September 21, 2025. Until now, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has not conducted an inquiry motu proprio into the deaths of Saber and Serbo even as its mandate as an independent human rights institution is to investigate violations of the civil, political and human rights, like the indiscriminate shooting that led to the wrongful death of Saber and reckless action that caused Serbo’s demise.
The Makabayan Coalition and lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (Sentra) assisted the 216 people arrested during the September 21 dispersal, including 91 minors, and the 132 charged by the police with violating the martial law edict Batas Pambansa 880 (BP 880), which was imposed in October 1985 and required permits from authorities for groups seeking redress of grievances and demanding changes in government policies. It thus limits the exercise of free speech and the right of citizens to assemble in peace, march, picket and denounce state abuses. BP 880 had been used to suppress civil and political rights, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR.)
The militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (May One Movement or KMU) and its affiliated unions, as well as the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) condoled with Saber’s relatives and friends during the wake. “We stand with you in ensuring he receives justice,” the groups said. “He was only one among the workers victimized by violence on September 21. This shows the state’s blatant attack on workers, the poor, and the people. Mourning will never be enough, let us hold the perpetrators accountable!” CTUHR argued. The Kabataan Party-list (KPL) Bicol also joined the call for justice for Saber. He was from Paracale, Camarines Norte who came to Manila to find work.
KPL Bicol condemned both local and national government officials for claiming that no one died and no brutality occurred in Mendiola on September 21. “This is an insult not only to the memory of Eric and other victims but also to the people themselves who witnessed the truth with their own eyes and cameras,” the group said. KPL Bicol also the urged the media and the local governments of Bicol to help Saber’s family obtain justice. Various group likewise demanded that the CHR conduct an investigation as to why scores of those arrested by the police suffered contusions, bruises and other injuries as riot squads pounced on them. In one episode, a young man was brought by a SWAT member to Sogo Hotel to be “identified” only for him to be manhandled by hotel employees.
As the rapacity of the Duterte and Marcos Jr. regimes in using vacuum cleaners to empty the budgets for flood control projects is laid bare, more and more protests are shattering the insouciance of the administration, with millions of people finally acknowledging that the plunder of the people’s money would not happened without the connivance of Malacanang, Congress and the very agencies charged with auditing the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH.) Sen. Mark Villar also helped promote, protect and expand Villarism, which is nothing but bureaucrat capitalism, as he “delegated” the task of approving the joint ventures of his brother’s Primewater Infrastructure Corp. (PIDC) with 440 local water districts (LWDs) out of a total of 548 LWDs. The Duterte regime conveniently placed all LWDs under Villar’s supervision. Ngayon, wala raw siyang alam doon. Some people, like the despised US Senator Joseph McCarthy, have no sense of decency. Or even common sense.
