Investigators Checking Possible Cohorts of Men Who Seized Manila Airport Control Tower

Investigators Checking Possible Cohorts of Men Who Seized Manila Airport
Control Tower

TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer   Sunday, November 9, 2003

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(11-09) 20:26 PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) --

Philippine investigators are trying to determine whether two men who
briefly seized the Manila airport control tower acted alone or were part
of a bigger plot, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Monday.

"It appears isolated at that time, but after the incident, we have to
conduct additional investigation. It's standard operating procedure,"
Golez told The Associated Press.

He said authorities want to be "very thorough" and look into the
possibility that the action by former Air Transport Office chief Panfilo
Villaruel and navy reserve officer Ricardo Catchillar "was part of a coup
plot or a terror plot."

But he said no troop movements were monitored and there have been no
indications that other people were behind the incident.

Villaruel and 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 before midnight Saturday.

Authorities tried to persuade the men to surrender. They refused and were
killed in a gunfight after a three-hour standoff.

Near the airport, police later found an abandoned car loaded with 33
blocks of TNT. The car was believed used by Catchillar.

The airport incident came just three months after a failed coup, and
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has tried to allay fears that it was
part of another attempted power grab.

However, she put the military and police on high alert and ordered
checkpoints set up around Manila.

In a statement Monday, Arroyo rejected criticism that the police used
excessive force to end the tower takeover.

"There was no overkill," she said. "The assault team used the proper
amount of force to obviate resistance and swiftly resolve the standoff."

She said Villaruel may have had noble intentions "but he crossed the line
of the law and dearly paid for it."

Police officials said Villaruel and Catchillar's bodies tested negative
for drugs and alcohol.

The government has come under fire for the security breach that let the
two men briefly seize the airport control tower. Legislators and
businessmen said the incident has embarrassed the country and raised
security concerns.




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