Chaos broke out along Recto Avenue in Manila on Sunday as masked individuals vandalized a motel during the height of nationwide anti-corruption protests marking September 21.
Authorities said the group hurled rocks and debris at the motel’s glass doors and windows before four men forced their way into the lobby. The suspects allegedly seized a vault containing cash and fled the scene.
Witnesses reported that after the break-in, the attackers set two motorcycles on fire, prompting the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to rush in. But their efforts to contain the flames were disrupted when more protesters, many of them young, pelted rescuers with stones and other objects.
Police have since locked down the building, with the Manila Police District (MPD) conducting a deeper investigation into the incident.
The disturbance was part of broader demonstrations across Metro Manila, where tens of thousands gathered to condemn corruption in flood-control projects amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos.
