Protesters run over by police outside U.S. Embassy in Philippines

Renato Reyes, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, one of the groups participating in the left-wing rally against U.S. troops in the Philippines, said the van rammed the demonstrators toward the end of the event.

"So far, 29 are confirmed arrested and at least 10 were brought to the hospital as they were run over by a police vehicle," Reyes said in a statement provided to Kyodo News.

"There was absolutely no justification for it. The groups were preparing to leave," he said.

The Youth Partylist group, another organization that took part in the rally, said the demonstrators were mainly ethnic minorities demanding an end to U.S. interference in the military, political, and economic affairs of the Southeast Asian country.

"They were calling for the immediate abrogation of lopsided treaties with the U.S., including the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, in which 'agreed locations' for foreign bases directly trespass and endanger their ancestral lands," the group said, referring to a newly established group of Moro and Indigenous people called Sandugo.

"They were rallying against the U.S.-instigated 'Oplan Bayanihan,' which has wrought strife, conflict, and deadly militarization in their communities," the group added.

The Philippine National Police denied that the protesters were intentionally run over, saying the demonstrators attacked the van first.

"They were not run over. The rallyists were trying to flip over the patrol car. In the process, the driver extricated the patrol car and inadvertently hit some unruly protesters who sustained minor injuries," said Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde, head of the National Capital Region Police Office.

Albayalde said that 32 police office were injured, adding that they will file appropriate charges, including direct assault and illegal assembly, against the protesters.

"While we respect the freedom of assembly and speech in the exercise of democracy, we cannot tolerate violations of the law and breaches in peace and security by people who tend to go beyond it," Albayalde said.

Source: Kyodo