Manila might have been spared the powerful storm Lawin’s wrath but not the inordinate ferocity of the Manila Police District as it unconscionably attacked the protesters in front of the US embassy yesterday to violently disperse them.

The rallyists who were asserting national self-determination and sovereignty were mostly indigenous peoples. They were demanding the pull out of US forces from the Philippines particularly from their ancestral lands.

The creeping culture of violence emanating from government’s war on drugs that has spawned unabated summary killings has been dramatized by the sudden violent dispersal that injured some 50 protesters.

The brute force unleashed by the Manila Police District is condemnable as it is an abominable assault on the right of the people to peaceful assembly which is guaranteed by the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Philippines is a State Party.

The police attack on the protesters proves that the uniformed men and women have no respect for human rights and civil liberties. This sends a chilling effect as it can continue to escalate as the police are emboldened by the incessant exhortation of President Duterte to the members of the PNP to kill perceived lawbreakers when necessary.

The use of force and violence to suppress political dissent is anathema to democracy. Democracy is sustained by differing even conflicting views and opinions that are ideally resolved by consensus and never by force and violence.

A prompt and impartial investigation of the incident by an independent body is imperative.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN