MANILA, Philippines-- Philippines police broke up an anti-US protest near the American mission here Wednesday on the eve of a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, officials said.

About 70 students scuffled with riot police before being pushed back from the mission's gates, an AFP photographer on the scene said.

No one was seriously hurt in the melee, police said.

Chanting anti-American slogans, members of the left-leaning League of Filipino Students burned a poster of Uncle Sam and demanded the pullout of US military advisers deployed in the country's south.

The Americans are providing counter-terrorist training to Filipino forces fighting Islamist militants, but their presence in the Mindanao region is an "absolute affront to Philippine national sovereignty and integrity," the protesters said in a statement.

The Philippines is a former US colony.

"It is proof that we remain under the beck and call of the Americans," said League secretary-general Terry Ridon.

Officials say Clinton's arrival will put the spotlight on military cooperation.

As well as official meetings, Clinton is also expected to visit victims of recent deadly typhoons that lashed the archipelago.