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.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS