10,000 dispersed by police at anti-Ramos rally
10,000 dispersed by police at anti-Ramos rally
MANILA (AFP): Dozens of riot police used truncheons and water cannon yesterday to prevent 10,000 leftist protesters from marching on parliament, where President Fidel Ramos was to make a state-of-the-nation address.
Seven persons, including a photojournalist, were injured after a phalanx of police began beating the crowd with their truncheons, while other policemen tried to unsnarl traffic.
Two firetrucks trained their hoses on the demonstrators, who began regrouping in a bid to continue to their protest.
The protesters, including nuns and trainee priests, launched the demonstration to mark an annual state-of-the-nation address by President Ramos at the reopening of congress.
Chanting "Ramos, liar" and denouncing the government's economic liberalization programs, the protesters had occupied most of the highway leading to the congress building, slowing down vehicles and causing traffic chaos.
Leftist groups have traditionally staged protests during the annual speeches of the president.
Notably absent were any protesters against a planned peace agreement with Moslem guerrillas which has come under fire in the southern Philippines.
In past weeks, Ramos has encountered vigorous protests during his visits to the south, from the Christian majority who fear that the peace agreement will lead to their domination by the Moslem minority.
A statement from the leftist May One Movement (KMU) labor group, assailed the peace agreement for intensifying "the national government's pro-imperialist and anti-people's strategy" but made no reference to the concerns of Christians in the south.
Meanwhile, a police spokesman said yesterday Philippine police were put on alert after newspapers here reported a leftist group planned terrorist attacks on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held here in November.
Ramos ordered the Philippine National Police to work with intelligence agencies "and the APEC inter-agency task force to neutralize the terrorist plan," spokesman Roy Navales said.
He declined to provide details of the alleged plot.
Newspaper reports earlier said a previously-unknown leftist organization, the Lagman Group, was planning to stage attacks against the APEC summit, including bombings, hostage-taking and even the killing of summit delegates.
Filemon Lagman, a former communist insurgent leader who has since emerged from hiding to form a leftist labor group, on Monday denied he was involved in such a plot.
He alleged in a statement that the reports were a government ploy to find an excuse to disrupt anti-APEC protest actions his group is planning.
The Philippines will be hosting the summit of APEC member- economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
The summit will be held in the northern freeport of Subic on Nov. 25.