MANILA, Philippines--Operatives of the Quezon City Police District Friday stopped some 400 students and professors from the University of the Philippines who were joining the interfaith rally in Makati City shortly after they left their campus in Diliman, Quezon City on Friday.

Terry Ridon, convenor of UP Alliance Working for Arroyo’s Removal (UP Aware), said several policemen blocked the vehicles they were riding around 3:20 p.m. upon reaching a gasoline station at the Philcoa area on Commonwealth Avenue.

Ridon said the policemen did not give them any reason why they were being prevented from proceeding to Makati.

“This is clear harassment. The government is just too paranoid,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to speak with the police officers but they declined to be interviewed.

Senior Supt. Magtanggol Gatdula, QCPD director, did not answer several calls to his mobile phone.