Photo by Ben Nabong / Rappler

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Protesters and police clashed in front of the US Embassy in Manila on Wednesday, October 19, as cops tried to disperse a rally of indigenous peoples protesting alleged military and US presence in their ancestral lands. They were trying to enter the embassy," Riparip told AFP news agency. AP Television footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after protesters had surrounded and started hitting the van with wooden batons they had seized from the police. At least three student activists had to be taken to a hospital after they were ran over by the van driven by a police officer, protest leader Renato Reyes said. "There was absolutely no justification [for the police violence]," Renato Reyes, secretary general of left-wing activist group Bayan, said. "Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the U.S."

Police lobbed tear gas and arrested at least 23 protesters who broke through a line of riot police and hurled red paint at the officers and a U.S. government seal at the start of the rally at the seaside embassy compound. A fire engine doused the rowdy protesters with water to push them back, but they took hold of the water hose and confronted the outnumbered police with rocks and red paint. After breaking through the police corridor, they scribbled "U.S. troops out now" and other slogans at the embassy's tall fence with red paint. “Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the U.S.”

The violence happened as the protesters gathered to demand an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the country and to support a call by President Rodrigo Duterte for a foreign policy not dependent on the U.S., the country’s longtime treaty ally. The demonstration comes as controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte visits China after indicating he would seek to strengthen relations between the two countries. "The Philippines will not be dictated on, whether by the U.S. or China," they said in a statement.
A police dispersal occurs between combined minority groups and anti-U.S. activists and the Philippine National Police in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Police arrest 30 protesters with 60 people injured, several rammed by a police van driven during the dispersal.