The Fresh York Times
October Nineteen, 2016
MANILA — Dozens of protesters were hurt on Wednesday after a Philippine police officer used a van to ram into them during a demonstration against the United States in the capital.
Television footage demonstrated the van plowing into a throng of protesters outside the United States Embassy in Manila as police officers in riot gear roughed up a group of mostly student activists.
The vehicle drove frantically forward and backward, knocking down several protesters. A woman was seen being flung into the air before tucking into the ground. She was then run over, but she was later seen standing and limping away.
About 1,000 activists had gathered to request an end to the United States presence in its former colony; the two countries have been allies since the 1950s. The fresh Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has denounced President Obama, Pope Francis, the United Nations and the European Union for criticizing his war on drugs, which has left hundreds of suspected drug dealers and maniacs dead.
The van’s driver, Officer Franklin Kho, told reporters that he hit the protesters by accident as he attempted to drive away from them because they were hitting the vehicle with wooden clubs and he feared that they would commandeer it and use it to attack other police officers, The Associated Press reported. “They were already attempting to seize the vehicle,” Officer Kho said.
Baton-wielding police officers also assaulted a teenage protester who was lounging on the ground as his fellow protesters scampered to safety. The police also lobbed rip gas at a column of protesters who managed to break through the ranks of riot police officers.
“Nothing can justify this,” said Renato Reyes, the leader of a leftist group, Bayan, that organized the protest. “You do not use a police vehicle to run over protesters. There is absolutely no justification for this.”
He said at least thirty injured protesters were arrested while a fire truck hosed down people in the tumultuous gathering, who were chanting, “U.S. troops out now.” They also vandalized the embassy gates with crimson paint.
“The dispersal happened as the rally was about to end,” Mr. Reyes said.
Mr. Reyes said President Duterte, who counts himself a leftist and has been the leading voice of anti-American policies of late, has vowed to have an “independent foreign policy.”
“But the Philippine police are still acting as American running dogs,” Mr. Reyes said.
Mr. Duterte has also lashed out at Jews and likened the Holocaust to his crime purge, causing an uproar that compelled him to apologize.
Albeit he said the military alliance with Washington would proceed, he has also said Manila is seeking military alliances with China and Russia. Mr. Duterte is on a state visit to Beijing as he attempts to slick relations embittered by territorial tensions in the South China Sea.
In a statement, the national police said they were investigating the violence at the demonstration, but they denied they were under orders to harm the protesters.
The police are “now piecing together all the facts and circumstances,” the statement said, adding that criminal and civil charges were being ready for those found to be behind the violence.
The Communist Party of the Philippines, which is negotiating a peace agreement with the government to end its almost 40-year insurgency, said it held the authorities “responsible for the violent affront against the people’s democratic rights to demonstrate and seek redress.”