Mendiola Street, Manila
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Mendiola Street is a short thoroughfare in the district of San Miguel in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Mendiola Street starts from the intersection of Legarda and Claro M. Recto Avenues and ends just outside Malacaņang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines. Mendiola is famous for being the venue for protest actions against an incumbent government and is the site to some colleges and universities that form the area of Manila known as the "University Belt".
Because of the tight security at the Malacaņang Palace, authorities decided to close half of Mendiola Street starting from the sentinel gate infront of the College of the Holy Spirit and La Consolacion College to protect the palace from different forms of threats. Vehicles were then diverted to Concepcion Aguila Street, a narrow side street that passes through residential areas of San Miguel.
In May 2001, supporters of ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada, after holding a series of protests at a portion Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) infront of the EDSA Shrine against the arrest of Estrada due to charges of plunder and graft and corruption by members of the Philippine National Police, marched to Malacaņang Palace and tried to make an assault on the palace, where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was located. Snipers and armored vehicles were deployed to the Malacaņang Palace grounds to protect the Palace and officials of the Philippine government, led by Arroyo, who were then inside the palace compound for emergency meetings. Hundreds of Philippine police and military men thwarted the protestors through the use of water cannons and tear gas but the protestors fought back by throwing rocks and broken bottles to the anti-riot personnel, burning cars and private property along the way and looting nearby convenience stores and groceries. Chases by police against protestors reached all the way up to the intersection of Nagtahan Street and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard in Santa Mesa and the intersection of Claro M. Recto Avenue and Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo. Immediately after the siege on Malacaņang Palace, President Arroyo declared a "state of rebellion" all over Metro Manila.
The May 2001 assault on Malacaņang was the most violent confrontation to ever occur in Mendiola Street.