Police kill armed men who tried to seize control tower

Security officers shot and killed the Philippines’ former top civil aviation administrator, and a navy reserve officer, who had seized the airport control tower in the capital Manila at gunpoint early today.

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 told DZBB radio. “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 gasping 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.

In a tragic twist, the first plane that landed at the airport after Villaruel was killed – a Philippine Airlines flight from Los Angeles – was piloted by his son, Paul Michael, a former air force pilot, DZBB radio reported.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said there would 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 provided security to the armed forces headquarters.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said Catchillar was charged in August 2002 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”.

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 unauthorised 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.