Filipinos wage rally against US presence in the Philippines

Students in the Philippines have staged an anti-American rally to protest the ongoing joint military drills by US and Philippine troops in the South China Sea. The student protesters on Monday demonstrated against the presence of the US troops in their country and condemned what they described as US interventionism. The angry students burned a US flag during the protest rally. Nearly 7,000 American and Philippine troops are taking part in the annual drills, called Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder), which are due to continue until April 27. The naval exercises come amid escalating tensions between the Philippines and China over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Beijing has already expressed opposition to the military drills involving Americans near the South China Sea. A military spokesman for the Philippines has rejected any connection between the drills and the events at Scarborough Shoal, over which Manila remains locked in a stand-off with Beijing.