Tribune fotog saves cop’s life amid chaos

DAILY TRIBUNE photographer Toto Lozano, 45, is no stranger to the intensity of rallies — he's covered countless demonstrations through his lens during years of honing his craft in the bustling streets of Davao City.

What began as just another day on assignment turned into an unforgettable experience on Sunday, when he found himself amid a group of black-clad protesters marching from Luneta to Malacañang.

Call it a veteran’s instinct.

“I had a feeling something was about to happen,” he recalled.

During the hour-long march, Lozano noticed a glaring lack of coordination.

“It didn’t look like anyone was really in charge,” he said. The group rerouted at least twice—no one seemed sure how to reach Malacañang via Ayala Bridge.

“These were mostly young kids, probably teenagers,” he added. “I figured they were inspired by what happened in Indonesia and Nepal. They carried Philippine flags and black banners marked with a skull.”

Tension simmered early on.

“Some vented their ire on parked cars along T.M. Kalaw,” Lozano said.

When they reached Ayala Bridge, their path was blocked—trucks and a container van stood like barricades. The air thickened with the threat of violence.

Sensing the shift, Lozano moved behind the police line, camera at the ready.

“The police were badly outnumbered,” he said. “Then the stones started flying.”

Chaos erupted. Debris soared from every direction. A truck went up in flames, a fiery signal that the protest had spiraled into something darker.

Lozano kept shooting—until something made him lower his camera.

An unconscious policeman was being carried away from the frontlines by his fellow officers. Lozano rushed to the scene and checked for a pulse. Nothing.

“Does anyone here know how to do CPR?” he asked urgently.

Silence.

So, Lozano did what he had hoped he would never need to do—not since learning CPR a decade ago. He began chest compressions.

In that surreal moment, a strange thought crossed his mind:

“What song should I sing?”

“Should it be Stayin’ Alive or Salamin, Salamin by BINI? Both have the right beat,” he said with a faint smile.

In the end, he went with the classic.

“I chose Stayin’ Alive. It just felt right.”

The moment the officer gasped after the first compression, Lozano knew he had made the right call.

Medics arrived shortly after and took over. By the time the policeman was placed into the ambulance, he was conscious.

Reinforcements eventually arrived, and the police regained control. The crowd was dispersed, the fires extinguished, the violence subdued.

But for Lozano, what stood out the most wasn’t the chaos, the flames, or even the images he captured.

“If there’s one thing I learned that day,” he said,

“it’s this: safety first—not just for us behind the camera, but for everyone on the street.”