Updated

Left-wing protesters have clashed with riot policemen amid a downpour as they tried to breach a barricade of barbed wire and vehicles ahead of the Philippine president's final state of the nation address.

Police say some of the approximately 4,000 protesters started to push away the vehicles and iron railings used to block them from getting close to the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon city where President Benigno Aquino III is to deliver his speech later Monday. At least six policemen and protesters were injured when authorities used water cannon to push back the protesters, who hurled rocks and bottles at them.

Aquino is expected to report on the progress of his fight against corruption and poverty, which have persisted in his impoverished country.