Hundreds of militant farmers and urban poor marched to the United States embassy to the Philippines on Tuesday afternoon to protest the alleged interference of the U. S. government in the country's affairs.

As the Southeast Asian country celebrated the 114th anniversary of the Independence Day, some 600-strong protesters called for President Benigno Aquino III to step down after just two years in office for his failure to fully implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Act, as they questioned his family's sincerity to distribute Hacienda Luisita lands to farmers.

The protesters burned an effigy of what was supposed to be the "Pinoy Golden Kuhol", which is a bane on the crops of farmers. The militant farmers said the effigy symbolized the administration's snail-paced implementation of the agrarian reform law.

Fully-armed anti-riot operatives of the Manila Police District blocked the protesters from coming closer to the embassy at around 1:15 p.m., forcing them to engage in a shoving match.

No arrests were made, however, as the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Willy Marbella, an organizer of the demonstration, said that the country cannot totally claim independence as it lays subservient to the influence and interests of the U.S., the Philippines' biggest trade and military ally.

Recently, Aquino held a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House to intensify the alliance between the two countries. On that occasion, Aquino also reiterated the government 's call for the U.S. to help beef up its defense capabilities.

Marbella further pointed out that the presence of American troops in Mindanao undermined the so-called independence of the country from external domination.

"The intensifying U.S. economic, political, cultural, and military intervention, coupled with Aquino's rabid puppetry is the biggest slap to Philippine independence," Marbella said.

Atty. Ramon Pedrosa, chairman of the Solidarity for Sovereignty, called Aquino the "worst, dangerous president," because of his flawed foreign policy.