Manila, Sept. 23 -- The Sept. 21 riot in Mendiola involving minors was orchestrated by an organized group that paid participants to stir chaos, with the intent to destabilize the government, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed on Tuesday.

Remulla said children as young as 11 were recruited from the Quiapo area and paid PHP3,000 each to join the incident.

"Mukhang lumalabas organized group... ang bayad nila sa mga bata ay 3,000 each. May mga videos pa kami na pinapakita nila mga pera nila at niyayabang sa social media (It seems like an organized group is coming out... they pay the children 3,000 each. We even have videos of them showing off their money and bragging on social media)," Remulla said as quoted in a news release.

He ...