When Facebook page Library of Most Controversial Files posted three photos of what looked like protesters destroying the sign of the US Embassy in Manila on October 25.
“Emblem of the Embassy of the United States of America destroyed in Manila,” the page captioned the photos.
[ads1]These photos were uploaded after the violent US embassy dispersal of an October 19 rally by the Lumads, who were shouting for an independent foreign policy. The dispersal involved a police van that ran over several protesters, hurting them in the process. This also led to the dismissal of several Manila Police District cops.
The recent event could be the reason why many of those who commented on the Library of Most Controversial Files’ photos mentioned the Lumads’ rally and the violent dispersal.
The top comment, which earned over 2,000 likes, even tried to justify the cops’ violence against the protesters simply by looking at the photos uploaded by the Library. And a few other netizens had similar views.
Another netizen reacted to the photos, saying that while she understands how Duterte is “not pro-US,” vandalizing the US Embassy only served to make the Philippine government look bad.
One netizen was quick to judge the vandals as Duterte’s supporters.
However, the photos were actually taken during a protest rally in April 2012, as per GMA News Online’s photo.
UK news site Dailymail also posted two of the same photos uploaded by the Library.
According to Dailymail, about 70 Filipino student activities vandalized the US Embassy signage with blue and red paints and scrawled “US troops out now” to protest the US-PH military exercises from April 16 to 27, 2012.
The photos of the vandalism done by protesters to the US Embassy signage were taken in 2012, not during the rally of the Lumads or during Duterte’s administration.
As for the netizens who said the protesters deserved to be run over by the police vehicle, that’s not how the law works. As TV5 journalist Ed Lingao has pointed out, protesters who violated the law ought to be punished by the law instead of being run over.
Sources: (gmanetwork.com, dailymail.co.uk)
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