Manila, Nov 30 (IANS) Hundreds of protesters in Manila on Friday burnt effigies of the presidents of the Philippines, the US and China to mark the 155th birth anniversary of leftist revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the 19th century revolt against the Spanish in the country.
Dozens of policemen resisted the demonstrators’ march from Espana Boulevard to Mendiola in protest against what they alleged was President Rodrigo Duterte’s surrender of the government’s foreign policy to Beijing and Washington, Efe news reported.
They said polices of the Duterte administration contradicted the ideals of their hero, Bonifacio, who led the revolt against foreign aggression.
The slogan-shouting protesters, waving anti-government placards also tried to march towards the US Embassy and the Presidential Palace, meeting police resistance near TM Kalaw Avenue in the capital.
The protesters then set on fire the effigies of Duterte and of US and Chinese Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
The demonstrators also called on the Duterte administration to hike salaries across-the-board to help people beat inflation in view of the latest oil price increase.
They also demanded the release of jailed leaders of the Communist Party.
The march was organized by left-leaning labour unions Bayan Muna and Kilusang Mayo Uno to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan, the Philippines revolutionary society that revolted against Spain in 1892.
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