STUDENT organizations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines condemned the alleged police harassment and intimidation during a recent protest in Manila.

Anakbayan PUP claimed that several policemen threatened to arrest the students along with the jeepney drivers who gathered at a gas station in Sta. Mesa. The policemen told the students to cancel their activity, citing quarantine restrictions.

After dispersing the rally, the policemen followed and photographed the protesters and asked them for their personal information, the group said.

Other groups denounced the police action, saying it was “an act to silence the critics” of the Duterte administration.

“Ito ay malinaw na patunay na ang konstitusiyonalisasyon ng Anti-Terror Law ay nagbibigay ng kapangyarihan sa mga ito na ipagpatuloy ang panunupil at pagpapatahimik sa mga kritiko rason kung bakit nararapat itong ibasura!” Kabataan Partylist PUP said on Facebook.

“Imbes na tugunan ang ating mga lehitimong panawagan, ang tanging sagot ng rehimen ay panliligalig at pambubusal. Pamamaraan lamang ito ng rehimen upang pigilin at sapilitang busalan ang mga naninindagan at mga nag-iingay para sa ipinaglalabang kalusugan, kabuhayan, at karapatan,” Sandigan ng Mag-aaral para sa Sambayanan said.