3 hurt as Navotas residents hurl rocks to protest demolition of houses

MANILA, Philippines—Two policemen and a government worker were hurt after a group of residents in Navotas City whose houses were about to be demolished hurled rocks at members of a clearing team on Wednesday.

Police Officers 1 Meduard Reloj and Bernard Villena, members of the city police, were struck in the face and hand, respectively. Sammy Rana of the City Engineering Office was hit in the head, leaving him dazed and bleeding profusely. The three were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

“We were just overseeing the operations when without any provocation, some people began throwing stones at us,” Reloj told the Inquirer.

Two men were arrested by the police after they were identified as the ones who instigated the throwing of stones at members of the clearing team.

Kit Manuel, 20; and Martin Bronjal, 23, will be charged with physical injuries, according to desk officer PO2 Ibrahim Guiama.

A check showed that the two were not even residents of the area.

Most of the stone throwers were people living on a huge lot on Ext. A. Leongson Street in Barangay (village) San Roque, which was struck by a fire earlier this year.

The blaze left 12 people dead and around 130 families homeless.

The city government started conducting clearing operations in the property last week to give way to a medium-rise housing that would accommodate the displaced fire victims.

“But we cannot proceed with the soil testing since there are still people in the area,” Mayor John Rey Tiangco said in a phone interview.

He added that the previous clearing operations were generally peaceful.