Stray bullet victim in Mendiola protest was a bystander, says witness
By Kenneth Roland Guda & Avon Ang
Bryan*, a resident of the University Belt, recounted how he witnessed the shooting of Eric Saber, 35, during the chaos in Recto Avenue, near Mendiola, on September 21, 2025. Eric, he said, was a bystander who took no part in the protest.
Saber, a construction worker originally from Paracale, Camarines Norte, has lived in Manila for the last two years. On September 21, while traveling home from Pasay, he found himself stranded on Recto.
Across the street, in front of Hotel SOGO, Bryan saw members of the Philippine National Police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) raise their long rifles and fire.
“Eric was a standby, watching only that day. He was about to cross the street to take a look, when there were successive gunshots – more than four. That’s when he fell,” Bryan said, in Filipino.
He was the first to reach the fallen Eric. “I ran to him alone to check. I saw he had a bullet wound in the neck. I immediately stood up to look for help or a medic, but I found none,” he said.
With no aid nearby, he and others lifted Eric to the other side of the Road. “We just carried Eric to the side…but still, there was no medic or vehicle that could provide service,” Bryan said.
Eventually, volunteer medics arrived and rushed Eric toward a station near Isetann Mall, but Bryan did not follow. “I left because all the police were already ‘red-tagging’ people,” he added. By ‘red-tagging’, he meant police accusing and accosting people at random.
In the same SOGO melee, a young protester from Taguig City was trying to move a police motorcycle – apparently to set it on fire – when he was stabbed by a man who was later identified as Richard Francisco, 52, a watch repairman in a nearby shop.
Bryan said he helped the stabbing victim, too. “I was also one of those who called a taxi and carried the bloodied minor there. He was stabbed by an older man. The victim was 15, the attacker was 52,” he said.
He recalled how police in plain clothes were targeting bystanders and anyone taking photographs, including him. “As early as the afternoon in Mendiola, there were already police in civilian clothing red-tagging onlookers and those taking photos. I was also taking photos,” Bryan further explained.
This triggered memories of Oplan Tokhang in Manila. “I was also one of the victims of plainclothes police…they are the ones who do ‘hulidap’ – they arrest people and release them for a fee – at night and plant drugs on the youth in Manila,” Bryan said.
Altermidya reached out to Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center to verify information regarding Eric’s death. The hospital responded, “We are not the proper person (sic) to release information. Please direct your inquiries to the Department of Health’s Freedom of Information office.”
Nevertheless, insiders with personal knowledge of the situation, confirmed that Eric was indeed brought to the said hospital that night.
Eric’s family, meanwhile, was informed only three days after the incident. Bryan himself helped contact them. Hospital insiders said Eric died on September 23, at 12 noon.
Bryan said Eric’s family was contacted by PNP’s SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operations) on the night of September 24.
“They were the ones who lost a loved one, and yet they were the ones being approached by SOCO at night. Imagine, at night. That’s why the family refused (to be interviewed). Because they were afraid of the police – that they might come back or even shoot the family, too.”
Bryan and human rights lawyer Sol Taule assisted them in navigating the legal issues as they fear harassment from the police.
As of this writing, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has yet to walk back on their claims that “no protester was seriously injured”. For his part, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso presented to the media on September 24 the watch repairman, Francisco, who allegedly killed the 15-year old protester from Taguig City.
On the evening of September 25, Taule posted on Facebook about the situation of Eric’s family and his wake.
“They have nothing. Not even a single flower. I gave the two thousand pesos I had tucked in my wallet. I thought to myself, why is it always us who have nothing that end up chipping in? While in the Senate, they talk about billions stolen in corruption. Why is it always the poor? Why is it that when we fight back, we’re called criminals? When will this end?” she wrote, in Filipino.
Reflecting on that night, Bryan summed up his anguish: “All I wanted was to watch. But no, it all turned into chaos. Everyone I carried – they died.”
*Not his real name, changed for security reasons
[Videos are taken by a citizen journalist and provided to Altermidya by Bryan. It is uploaded to the co-author’s YouTube account for security reasons.]
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