Teodoro Casiño. Photo by Jamie Elona
MANILA, Philippines — Former Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño was among those hurt when tensions between police and militants ensued near Ever Gotesco in Commonwealth Avenue before noon Monday, hours before President Benigno Aquino III was set to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address.
Casiño sustained bruises after he was allegedly hit with a truncheon.
The former lawmaker said Aquino’s economic and political policies favored only the rich.
“President Aquino has made the Philippines into a paradise for foreign corporations, banks, landlords, and for big businesses, and a living hell for ordinary people,” Casiño said in an interview.
For his part, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said that they were negotiating with police officers when “without warning or provocation, the PNP attacked even before the results of the negotiations were made.”
“It was plain treachery,” Reyes said.
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