Independence Day celebration ‘peaceful,’ says PNP

Video by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net

Despite several arrests of protesters in some provinces, the Philippine National Police says the celebration of the 117th Independence Day has been “relatively peaceful.”

“The celebration of the 117th Philippine Independence Day is relatively peaceful. The PNP is on normal alert status but is monitoring some mass demo in some parts of Metro Manila,” Chief Insp. Bryan Gregorio, operations chief of the PNP public information office, told the media.

Several groups, mostly militants, held a protest in front of the Chinese consular office in Makati City to denounce China’s claim over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea.

Militants then continued the mass demonstrations at the Embassy of United States in Manila. Police said no untoward incidents were reported in both rallies.

Although no mass actions in Manila turned violent, some protesters in Cavite and Iloilo were arrested after they went past police security.

In Cavite, 13 members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Tagalog were arrested when they snuck into the compound of Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit.

The arrested protesters were mostly students of University of the Philippines-Los Baños.

In Iloilo, clash of militant groups led by Bayan with the police led to the arrest of its five members when they allegedly forced their way into a police blockade in Plaza Libertad.

The plaza is 1.6 kilometers away from the provincial capitol where President Benigno Aquino III attended the traditional Independence Day vin d’honneur. RC