Policemen, militant groups clash in Manila

Militant group Bayan Muna and other cause-oriented groups stage a protest rally along Kalaw streeet in Manila on Tuesday, the last day of US President Barack Obama’s state visit to the Philippines. The police used water cannons to disperse the ralliers and to prevent them from getting close to the US Embassy. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines—Police using water cannon and truncheons on Tuesday stopped some 1,000 protesters from marching on the US Embassy as President Barack Obama wrapped up a 24-hour visit to Manila.

The marchers assembled at Mendiola bridge outside Malacañang and proceeded about a block away from the embassy, where a police battalion was deployed.

A violent clash ensued briefly when the protesters tried to break through the police line. Some officers and protester sustained minor injuries.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Karapatan and Kilusang Mayo Uno held the protest for a second consecutive day to protest the signing of the 10-year Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the United States and the Philippines.

‘No. 1 Terrorist’

Outside the National Library, the protesters burned a giant US flag on which was printed the words “No. 1 Terrorist.”

They also had a “statue of bogus liberty,” holding a torch connected with a cord to the neck of an effigy of a Filipino.

Vowing to continue protests, the organizers warned in a statement that the defense pact would “institutionalize the increased rotational presence of American soldiers and the return of the US military bases in the country.

“How can there be liberty when our country is controlled by the US government and thousands of US soldiers will be deployed to our country?” Bayan spokesperson Andrianne Mark Ng asked.

“The people of southern Tagalog will be greatly affected by this agreement as the United States had long been expressing an interest in putting up bases in Sangley Point in Cavite and Oyster Bay in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan,” Ng added.—Maricar B. Brizuela