The League of Filipino Students (LFS) slammed the arrest and harassment of over a dozen activists in Zambales and Cebu on Labor Day, May 1.
"Today, 11 members of the League have been arrested in Zambales, and at least 14 in Cebu," the group said in a statement on Saturday.
Eleven members of the LFS were arrested for allegedly breaking social distancing protocols in Castillejos town, Zambales.
The individuals were intercepted at a checkpoint in Barangay Del Pilar after failing to provide "authorized documents for travel" and "identification documents," according to the Philippine Army 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion.
Meanwhile, according to the National Union of Students of the Philippines, at least 14 individuals were arrested in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu for violating social distancing protocols during the Mayo Uno protest.
"With the people's demands for mass testing and urgent aid falling on deaf ears, it is all the more relevant and necessary to launch nationwide protest actions to register our collective anger," the group said.
"These arrests, on Labor Day no less, are proof that as the pandemic rages on, leaving millions ill, hungry, and unemployed, Duterte forces the people to die in silence. The League mobilizes all its forces and allies to defy these state-sponsored attacks and call for the immediate release of all individuals illegally detained and arrested," it added.