Airport siege ends in bloodshed

Security officers shot and killed the country's former top civil aviation administrator and a navy reserve officer who had seized the Manila airport control tower at gunpoint early yesterday.

Former Air Transport Office chief Panfilo Villaruel and navy reserve officer Ricardo Catchillar -- armed with guns and explosives and claiming they wanted to expose government corruption -- stormed the tower and forced the controllers out of the building.

Authorities tried to persuade the men to surrender but they refused and were killed in a gunfight, said airport security chief Angelo Atutubo.

"To prevent the disruption of airport operations and flights, we decided to do something," Atutubo said.

In a radio interview before the police stormed the tower, Villaruel expressed despair over government corruption and what he described as the aimless drift of the country.

"Despite all my efforts to call the attention of the Congress, the Senate and the military no one listens, so now maybe they will listen," he said. "I am not here to grab power. I just want to tell you that the Philippines will not go anywhere."

Moments later gunfire is heard in the background, and he said, "They are killing us. ... We surrender." Radio listeners then heard him grasping for breath.

Ignacio Bunye, a spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, praised the "fast and effective" response by authorities.

"This is just proof that the government remains in control of the situation and that's the reason for confidence in this government," Bunye said.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said there will be an investigation to pinpoint responsibility for the breach in security at the facility. He said Villaruel was familiar with the tower and many of the control tower staff knew him.

Navy spokesman Commander Geronimo Malabanan said Catchillar, 38, dropped out of a navy special forces training course and had been assigned to a group that provides security to the armed forces headquarters.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero said Catchillar was charged in August last year with conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman, and was on a "floating" status. His court martial had not ended yet.

In a statement, the president condemned Villaruel's action and commended the police for acting firmly according to established contingency procedures "to protect our national security."

"Nothing will ever justify the taking over of an international airport control tower and prejudice the lives of our passengers," Arroyo said. "There can be absolutely no excuse to terrorize the public in this manner."

Coming just three months after a failed coup, Arroyo tried to allay fears that the incident was part of another power grab, saying there were "no unauthorized movement of troops" anywhere in the country.

As a "precautionary measure," however, she put the military and police on "maximum alert" and ordered that checkpoints be set up around metropolitan Manila.

Airport General Manager Edgardo Manda said flights were operating normally. "Our special operations unit has neutralized the situation," he said.

Airport officials used another tower to maintain operations during the incident. Manda said there were only minor damage to the tower where the shootout occurred.

The pilot of an incoming Philippine Airlines flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, landed at the Mactan airport in the central Philippines before the situation in Manila ended, he said.