https://nyti.

ms/2enfdII

ASIA PACIFIC

Philippine Police Van Rams

Protesters at U.S. Embassy,

Hurting Dozens

By FELIPE VILLAMOR OCT. 19, 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.

Police brutality?

Television footage showed 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 wildly forward and backward, knocking down several

protesters. A woman was seen being flung into the air before slamming into the

ground. She was then run over, but she was later seen standing and limping away.

About 1,000 activists had gathered to demand an end to the United States

presence in its former colony; the two countries have been allies since the 1950s.

The new 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 addicts dead.

The vans driver, Officer Franklin Kho, told reporters that he hit the protesters

by accident as he tried 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

trying to seize the vehicle, Officer Kho said. Was it really necessary to take the van
and run over people that were in your

way?

Baton-wielding police officers also assaulted a teenage protester who was

lying on the ground as his fellow protesters scampered to safety. The police also

lobbed tear 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 30 injured protesters were arrested while a fire truck hosed

down people in the rowdy gathering, who were chanting, U.S. troops out now.

They also vandalized the embassy gates with red 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.They want no part or relationship with the United States.

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 forced him to apologize.

Why continue military alliance yet want

independence U.S?

Although he said the military alliance with Washington would continue, he

has also said Manila is seeking military alliances with China and Russia. Mr.

Duterte is on a state visit to Beijing as he tries to smooth 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 prepared 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 nearly 40-year insurgency, said it held

the authorities responsible for the violent affront against the peoples democratic

rights to demonstrate and seek redress.

A version of this article appears in print on October 20, 2016, on Page A3 of the New York edition with the
headline: Police Van Plows Into Anti-U.S. Protesters.

2017 The New York Times Company