Cop in US Embassy incident: Rallyists tried to seize the vehicle

Well, this blew up in all our faces.

On Wed, Oct 19, protesters gathered in front of the US Embassy in Manila to demand “an end to the presence of visiting U.S. troops in the Philippines 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,” reports ABC News.

The protest, however, took a horrifying turn when a Philippine National Police (PNP) vehicle ran over some of the protesters.

 

READ: Police vehicle runs over civilians at US Embassy protest in Manila

“Militant leader Renato Reyes said at least 10 were injured while others were arrested following the dispersal,” reports Inquirer.net.

Meanwhile, in an interview with ABS-CBN News, Police Officer 3 (PO3) Franklin Kho, who was driving the police mobile, claimed that what happened was an accident. He said he was forced to take charge of the vehicle because the protesters were trying to seize it.

 

 

Kho alleged, “Inaagaw na ng mga rallyista yung sasakyan, kaya napilitan akong kunin ko yung sasakyan. Kaya napaatras ko. ‘Yun ang nangyari.”

(“The rallyists were trying to take the vehicle, so I was forced to take over the vehicle. That was why I drove in reverse. That’s what happened.”)

Kho is convinced that if the rallyists had taken control of the vehicle, then they would have run over the policemen.

He argued, “O eh kami naman ang sasagasaan nila kung nakuha nila ‘to.”

(“They would have run over us if they were able to seize this (referring to the vehicle).”)

In fact, Kho further alleged that the rallyists had “charged at the vehicle and were attempting to flip it over with him and another policeman on board.”

Kho went on to insist that he had no intention of running over the rallyists.

“Wala naman kaming intensyon na gawin sa kanila ‘yun,” he said.

(“We had no intention to do that to them.”)

Echoing Kho’s defense, Police Senior Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo, ground commander of the Manila Police District (MPD), also insisted that they exercised maximum tolerance in their attempt to ensure that the rally was orderly.

However, Pedrozo accused the militants of not respecting  the rights of the policemen.

Pedrozo pointed out: “Sila po, hindi po nila ginawa ang kanilang dapat gawin. Hindi nila inayos ang kanilang mga hanay. Hindi nila na-kontrol ang kanilang mga hanay. So ano pong nangyari ngayon, nagkagulo. Sinong may kasalanan niyan? Sila mismo ang may kasalanan niyan. Unang-una wala po sila sa lugar, wala po silang permiso para mag-rally.”

(“It’s them, they didn’t do what they were supposed to. They didn’t manage their people. They weren’t able to control them. So what happened was, it became very chaotic. Whose fault is that? It’s their fault. In the first place, they didn’t have the right to be there. They didn’t have any permit to stage a rally.”)

Then again, as indicated on Inquirer.net, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has condemned the incident. The group is now calling for an investigation and is urging the government to identify the police officers behind the violent dispersal.

The CPP’s statement declared, “The CPP holds the leadership of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and officials of the Duterte government responsible for the violent affront against the people’s democratic rights to demonstrate and seek redress.”



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