Anti-RVAT marchers clash with cops in Manila

Anti-riot policemen and leftist organizations protesting the newly implemented 12% reformed value added tax (RVAT) law had separate violent confrontations in the streets of Manila on Wednesday, resulting in the arrest of at least seven people. Clashes erupted between leftist organizations and policemen in the Mendiola and Morayta districts as the government continued to implement its “no permit, no rally" policy. Manila policemen apprehended on Wednesday morning at least six members of the Akbayan party-list group and an old lady after a violent dispersal in Mendiola. The old lady was eventually released after policemen confirmed that she was just a bystander. A few hours later at around noon, another clash erupted between street marchers from leftist groups, including Sanlakas and Laban ng Masa, and law enforcers who blocked their path at the Morayta area. Demonstrators in Morayta were marching from Plaza Miranda in Quiapo when the police officers stopped them. Unfazed by the police response, the protesters tried to push their mass action forward and soon the two parties were hitting, pushing and stoning each other. A protester identified as Rod Mirante of Aniban ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura was arrested after pelting stones at Police Officer (PO) 2 Milan Naz. Members of Sanlakas and Laban ng Masa decided to continue their protest action in front of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Espana, Manila. Authorities also contested that they had to implement the government’s rally policy to maintain peace and order as well as ensure the smooth flow of traffic. The 12% RVAT, implemented Wednesday, covers a wide range of products and services, including oil, power, airline, food products, clothing, medicine, furniture, paper, glass, cement, steel, iron, wood, construction materials, electrical lamps and equipment, manufacturing and agriculture and manufacturing equipment, wholesale and retail trade, pawnshops, restaurants and other eateries, motion picture production, hotel and telecommunications. Corporate income taxes will also be increased from 32 percent to 35 percent for three years and will be dropped to 30 percent in 2010.-GMANEWS.TV