A sacked Filipino security guard who shot one person and took about 30 others hostage at a Metro Manila shopping mall yesterday surrendered to authorities, ending a day-long standoff that terrified shoppers and drew a massive police response.
The guard, Alchie Paray, walked out of the V-Mall, where he was allowed to speak briefly to the press before heavily armed officers tackled and arrested him.
He complained about being mistreated by his employers.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hostages were also led out of the building, but police did not say whether any of them had been hurt nor the exact number caught up in the violence.
The drama started when the suspect shot a security guard, who was rushed to hospital in stable condition, said Francis Zamora, mayor of San Juan City, which includes the mall.
Zamora told reporters that the hostage-taker was upset after losing his job.
Authorities worked for hours to convince him to surrender, and later in the day held a press conference where company officers apologized for upsetting the suspect.
“I deeply regret my shortcomings,” one supervisor said.
“Because of this, I will resign from my post ... to give way to a solution to our current problem,” the supervisor said.
Police were in contact with the suspect for hours via a walkie talkie. Philippine malls are centers of life that include everything from restaurants and shops, to churches and medical facilities. The building was full when the violence began.
Zamora said authorities believed there were “around 30” people held.
Witness John Paul Buenavista said he saw a wounded person — believed to be a guard at the mall — being put into a wheelchair and whisked away.
“We heard three gunshots. Then we saw people running, saying they saw someone getting shot,” he said.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS