Police, Strikers Clash in Manila; 6 Hurt

Police opened fire on protesters Wednesday and demonstrators hurled homemade grenades in the first general strike against President Corazon Aquino’s 18-month-old government, witnesses and the military said. Six people were injured.

Strikers stoned vehicles and scuffled with commuters and non-participants, and police used water cannon to disperse crowds blocking streets during the one-day strike to protest gasoline price increases. More than 100 people were arrested.

Organizers of the “day of national indignation” said up to 2 million workers participated in the strike called by a broad alliance of drivers’ organizations and major trade unions. But many shops and offices remained open.

Witnesses and one of the injured said police fired into a crowd of 5,000 protesters blocking the coastal highway near Bacoor, 10 miles south of Manila.

“All of a sudden they bombarded us with water hoses, then I heard gunshots,” said an injured Emelita Salyoto as she lay in the street waiting for an ambulance.

But the military said the injured were victims of “pillbox bombs,” or homemade grenades packed with iron shards and nails hurled by the protesters.

Lt. Col. Crisencio Maralit, Philippine Constabulary spokesman, said troops negotiated for four hours before moving in to disperse the protesters with water cannon. He said he had no report that officers had fired at the crowd.

The spokesman said four civilians and two police officers were injured in the violence.

In Manila, about 6,000 protesters carrying signs denouncing Aquino as an “American puppet” rallied two blocks from the presidential palace to demand a complete rollback of an increase in gasoline prices imposed Aug. 14.

On Tuesday, Aquino reduced the duty on imported oil to 15% from the earlier announced 20% in an effort to head off the first general strike since she assumed power in February, 1986, after a civilian-backed military revolt that ended the 20-year rule of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

But strike organizers, including the conservative Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, demanded the restoration of original prices and went ahead with the strike that some said would continue today.

Most schools closed for the day Wednesday. Random telephone calls showed government and private offices were operating at half their usual staff strength.