Philippines police break up Arroyo protest rally

Riot police used water cannons and truncheons to break up a rally today by more than 1,500 people demanding President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s fall.

They were encouraged by the success of protests that helped force out Thailand’s prime minister.

Protest leaders said several demonstrators were injured after police beat them with wooden sticks and forced them away from an access bridge to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila with fibreglass shields and water-cannon spray.

Rallies have been banned in the area, the scene of recent clashes between police and protesters.

“We would do to her what forced out Thaksin,” said Vencer Crisostomo, chairman of the left-wing League of Filipino Students, referring to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who announced on Tuesday that he will step down in the face of a mounting opposition campaign to oust him.