Nineteen NutriAsia workers and supporters were arrested as 100 elements of the Meycauyan Police and security guards dispersed the picketline just outside the factory in Marilao, Bulacan on 31 July 2018. Some 300 workers and supporters were sitting on the road when the security guards started pushing the workers using police’s shields. After a few minutes, the policemen and guards hit the protesters with rattan sticks and threw stones at them. “They kept on striking us, even as we raised our hands,” NutriAsia worker William Espiritu said: “They did not have any mercy.” Espiritu said a dialogue between the management and their union was scheduled for the day after: "We were ready to dismantle our picket if need be. Our only demand is to reinstate all the dismissed workers". Nineteen were arrested and brought to Meycauayan Police Station, according to Karra Taggaoa, spokesperson of the League of Filipino Students (LFS). Among those arrested were Anakbayan Secretary General Einstein Recedes and LFS Secretary General Mark Quinto. Anakbayan describes itself as the comprehensive, national democratic mass organization of the Filipino youth. In a statement NutriAsia management said it was the protesters who started throwing rocks at the security at the plant.