Disparaged political analyst Richard Heydarian is facing backlash again after falsely accusing DDS supporters of sabotaging the September 21 Mendiola protest. On social media, Heydarian claimed: “Mendiola ‘rally’ is looking like DDS sabotage!!! Disown!!! They do NOT represent legitimate anti-corruption forces!!!”
But Heydarian didn’t stop at speculation. In a follow-up post, he definitively declared: “DDS FORCES taking advantage!!! Do NOT ALLOW them to HIJACK the massive PEACEFUL PROTESTS!!!”—crossing the line from conjecture into outright falsehood.
That claim has since been debunked. The Manila Police District later confirmed that those arrested were members of Akbayan Partylist, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela. MPD spokesperson P/Maj. Philip Ines stated: “Kanina po nandito po yung Akbayan Partylist, yung ACT Teachers at yung Gabriela. Base po sa nakuha nating impormasyon, may mga miyembro po sila doon sa mga nahuli natin.” He added that seven lawyers had already visited the detainees to check their condition.
Gabriela Women’s Party backed this up in a statement, saying that Rep. Sarah Elago, Kabataan Rep. Renee Co, and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio went to the precinct to check on the detainees. They also called for the release of minors and PWDs, demanding that their Miranda rights be respected.
The violence that erupted, however, went far beyond simple dispersals. DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla alleged that some participants were recruited for as much as ₱3,000 each, with reports of children as young as 11 years old being used. He revealed chilling instructions given to them: “Kung kaya [niyong] umabot ng Palasyo, sunugin niyo.”
That context makes the death of 15-year-old Justine Serbio Ignacio even more tragic. Ignacio was stabbed along Recto Avenue after reportedly joining the chaos. The suspect, a 52-year-old watch technician, claimed he acted in defense of his property after minors tried to damage motorbikes. He later surrendered and now faces charges.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno confirmed that more than 100 police officers were injured and millions of pesos in property were destroyed. He denied rumors of fatalities during the riot itself but reminded the public that violence only breeds more violence. Investigators are now probing two suspected financiers allegedly tied to a political group.
Heydarian’s false claim did more than just miss the mark—it caused real damage. By wrongly blaming DDS supporters, he smeared an entire group without evidence and inflamed an already volatile situation. His statement also distracted the public from the actual groups confirmed by police to be involved, shifting attention away from the serious issues of recruitment, exploitation of minors, and violent instructions that fueled the chaos. Worse, by pointing fingers at the wrong people, his misinformation risked shielding the true financiers and organizers from accountability. And in the middle of all this, a 15-year-old boy lost his life—making Heydarian’s reckless words not just misleading, but a cruel distortion that trivialized tragedy and muddied the search for justice.
Adding to the irony, Heydarian has historically aligned himself with the politics very groups that police later identified as being involved in or supportive of the Mendiola chaos. For him to attack DDS while shielding allies only underscored the double standards and opportunism behind his narrative.
And this was not an isolated mistake—it is part of a pattern. He once compared Mindanao’s Human Development Index to Sub-Saharan Africa, a statement widely condemned as demeaning, with several LGUs even declaring him persona non grata.
He also twisted Senator Ping Lacson’s warning on flood-control spending, telling readers in his Inquirer column that the country had “lost close to ₱1 trillion” under Duterte.
In truth, Lacson never said money was “lost”—he said ₱1.9 trillion was appropriated from 2011 to 2025, with ₱1 trillion of that allocated in just three years under Marcos from 2023 to 2025.
Heydarian turned “appropriations” into “losses” and shifted the blame from Marcos to Duterte.
Then came the Supreme Court ruling that voided the impeachment complaint against Sara Duterte. Heydarian jumped online with: “FACT: DUTERTE had APPOINTED as many as 13 out of 15 SUPREME COURT justices by 2022!!” The post implied that the Court’s unanimous decision was political, not legal, fueling online anger.
Even after admitting later in print that it was “unfair to make automatic inferences,” the insinuation had already spread. On July 30, 2025, Duterte allies filed a petition charging him with indirect contempt for undermining the Court’s independence.
The petition was later amended, but the case showed once again Heydarian’s tendency to throw out charged statements in volatile moments—leaving others to deal with the fallout.
Taken together, these episodes reveal a consistent pattern: Heydarian’s contempt for Duterte and his allies clouds his judgment, driving him to spew wrong, reckless, or distorted information under the guise of commentary. In Mendiola, that bias translated into false accusations that shifted public anger toward the wrong people.
With official reports and on-the-ground evidence now contradicting his statements, the bigger question remains: shouldn’t Richard Heydarian apologize to DDS supporters for spreading fake news in the middle of such a volatile and tragic event?
