Philippine police chief suspends dozens of officers
The Philippines' national police chief yesterday suspended dozens of officers involved in violent clashes with anti-US protesters, as he voiced anger at one of his men ramming activists with a van.
At the rally outside the US embassy in Manila on Wednesday, the van reversed quickly into dozens of people then forward again, running over at least two protesters. The driver said shortly afterwards he panicked as he feared being mobbed.
Thirty demonstrators and 32 police were injured in the clashes, which also saw the authorities fire tear gas and the protesters strike out with batons.
"I am saddened and angered," national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said in a statement.
"Police forces are under strict instructions as a matter of policy, to exercise maximum tolerance in such public assemblies."
Nine senior officers and 40 lower-ranking policemen were suspended pending an investigation into the incident, chief superintendent Oscar Albayalde, head of police in the national capital region, told AFP.
The policemen will still receive their salaries as the probe is under way, he said.
Four protesters remained in hospital yesterday, according to rights group Karapatan, but none of them had life-threatening injuries.
Comments