Brief police-protester clash mars Bonifacio Day rally

Anti-Duterte protesters clashed with members of the police on Thursday during a rally on the 154th birth anniversary of revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio.

Police had formed a barricade on the corner of Loyola Street and C.M. Recto Avenue, blocking initially Mendiola-bound protesters from proceeding to the historic protest site, where pro-Duterte supporters were holding a program of their own.

Manila Police District Station 4 Commander Police Superintendent Aquino Olivar said there were around 500 police officers deployed in the area.

The front lines of the protest contingent, after inching across the street for a few minutes, surged forward and were met with shields of uniformed men in formation, who pushed back against the protesters.

WATCH: Police and protesters clashed at Bonifacio Day rally. Protesters surged forward, police held ground but also pushed back. | via @nclagrimas pic.twitter.com/Z5GQqQZnsE

— GMA News (@gmanews) November 30, 2017

A stream of water from a fire truck doused some of the clashing police and protesters.

The confrontation died down not long after, and the protest program resumed in peace.

At least one police officer was injured in the clash. GMA News Online is seeking information from the protesters' group as regards injuries.

The protest contingent—which was at least 1,200 and up to 3,000 people strong according to police and made up of several progressive groups including Kilusang Mayo Uno and Kadamay, marched from Liwasang Bonifacio after a brief downpour.

The group condemned President Rodrigo Duterte's supposed "creeping establishment" of a revolutionary government, the alleged "crackdown" on all the legal fronts of the armed left, as well as Duterte's "killing spree," which unionists and labor activists have allegedly fallen prey to.

Duterte signed a proclamation terminating peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army - National Democratic Front of the Philippines last week. — BM, GMA News