Manila: A hostage crisis that started on Tuesday in suburban Taguig City ended yesterday following a police commando assault to secure four captives from their captor, a movie bit player.
After a series of explosions, black-clad police officers hauled out two of four hostages held by Almario Villegas from inside the Hall of Justice in suburban Taguig city near Manila.
Two court employees who were among the hostages were later freed while the suspect's alleged girlfriend and accomplice, Delia de la Cruz, was detained.
According to Chief Superintendent Edgardo Rosales, commander of the city police force's Special Weapons and Tactics Unit, commandos stormed the upstairs room of the Taguig City Hall of Justice where Villegas and De la Cruz had holed out and held the four hostages at gunpoint.
"After a 24-hour standoff the crisis ended with the killing of the hostage taker and the capture of his [suspected] accomplice," Rosales said. Earlier, despondent over a ruling rendered by the court over a De la Cruz property, Villegas with the help of his partner seized and held Gina Ramos, her lawyer Frederick Ballesteros and court workers Donna Dulnuan and Liwanag Saloma at gunpoint.
Holding a pistol in one hand and a grenade in the other, Villegas had threatened to shoot his hostages as he and De la Cruz herded them to a room inside the justice hall building.
A report aired by television station RPN said Villegas had even struck Ballesteros.
By 1.30pm, gunshots rang out from the justice hall followed by a loud blast.
"It doesn't matter how long it took us to free the hostage, the important thing is that the crisis has been defused," Rosales said in an interview aired by the Radio Mindanao Network.
The lifeless body of the stocky hostage, who had claimed to have been a marine, was seen in television footages being carried by police out of the hall of justice. The Philippine Marines had denied that Villegas had been one of their soldiers.
According to Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga, an investigation into the incident will be conducted, focusing on how Villegas was able to smuggle weapons into the count room.
"It is prohibited to carry weapons inside the premises of the justice hall and we are probing into how Villegas was able to enter the building with a firearm and grenades," Tinga said.
According to Rosales, five live hand grenades were found in Villegas's body.
Villegas, a former soldier and a movie stuntman, and his girlfriend had appeared in court on Tuesday over an eviction notice filed against him by Gina Ramos, one of the four people he later took hostage.
After leaving the military, Villegas had worked at several odd jobs including as a movie stuntman, police said.
- With additional inputs from agencies
