Children taken hostage on Philippines bus

The head of a pre-school day centre took 32 of his own pupils and two teachers hostage on a Manila school bus Wednesday in a dramatic demand for better housing and education, Philippines police said.

Claiming to be armed with grenades and handguns, the suspect identified by police as Amando "Jun" Ducat and up to two associates took control of the bus after earlier booking it for a field trip for the children. As hysterical, terrified mothers pleaded with Ducat to free their children, a crack police team surrounded the bus outside Manila city hall and cordoned off an entire block.

Let our children out

"Please, please sir, let our children out," wailed Gemma Arroyo, the mother of a six-year-old girl on board the bus, as she reached police lines. She said she thought her daughter was at a mountain resort, the destination of the pre-school's field trip, when she heard the news. "They do that every year and then I saw the hostage drama on television.

My heart broke," Arroyo told AFP, tears streaming down her face. Ramon Revilla, a movie star and senator who knows Ducat, boarded to try to negotiate and emerged half an hour later cradling a sick boy, who was taken to hospital with a fever.

He urged the hostage-takers to free more children in return for ice cream, but told reporters the suspects would not agree to more releases unless they were given time on radio and television to air their demands to the nation."He won't release any more children until after he makes a nationwide broadcast," Revilla said.

As the crisis entered its fifth hour, one of Ducat's accomplices tried to move the bus but it was blocked by a firetruck. Tension ran high as Ducat then demanded a portable amplifier and repeated his demands.

He promised to peacefully surrender at nightfall if the public lit candles and promised to help combat widespread corruption in government. Nearby another terrified mother was screaming hysterically, demanding that police and negotiators do something to get the children freed. Revilla said the suspects held "real grenades" and the rest of the hostages were in good condition with food, soft drinks and toys.

Ducat earlier called a Manila radio station and demanded free education as well as free housing for a group of 145 pre-schoolers, including the hostages, at the Musmos Day Care Center he runs in the city's depressed Tondo district.

In a rambling discourse, he vowed to "surrender" peacefully if his demands were met. "I love these children, that's why I am here. I will not start any shooting."

One of the teachers on the bus, Lyn Osita, said the children were aged five or younger.In an earlier message on cardboard, held up on the windscreen of the bus, the suspects said they had machine pistols and grenades and two days' worth of food and water.

Some children were seen peeking and waving from behind the window curtains. One of the hostage-takers was seen holding a child threateningly while a woman - apparently one of the teachers - tried to pacify the others.

Ducat's son Buboy said his father had been railing about poverty and dirty politics and wanted his voice to be heard. "I don't have an idea why he did this," the son said. Authorities said Ducat was a successful businessman and building contractor who had run for various local electoral posts but never won. Senator Alfredo Lim, a former Manila police chief, said Ducat had a history of seeking attention.

He took two Roman Catholic priests hostage in 1987 using fake grenades in a building contract dispute. The priests were later released safely and Ducat was charged, but the case failed to finish, Lim told local television.

"I'm sure this will end peacefully," he added. Manila police said Ducat also climbed to the top of a monument in Manila in another stunt in 1995 to demand that Chinese-Filipinos be disqualified from Philippine elections.

AFP