The hostage-takers of 30 schoolchildren and four teachers on
board a bus in downtown Manila Wednesday released one child after
keeping his hostages for four hours, local television footage
showed.
The child was said to be suffering from a fever, reported
television ABS-CBN News, which expects more children to be released
soon.
They were kidnapped by two armed men near the Manila City Hall
on an excursion tour to the volcano lake resort town of Tagaytay,
50 kilometers south of Manila.
The hostage takers posted a large sheet of paper on the front
window of the air-conditioned bus, demanding free education for 145
children in a day-care center, an equivalent of kindergarten in
poor neighborhoods here.
Officials of Manila City are now talking to the hostage-takers
who are also inside the bus and officials of the Department of
Education were reportedly on their way to talk to the
hostage-takers.
The bus driver who was forced out of the bus said the
hostage-takers "appeared fully prepared" for their action.
The bus was surrounded by members of the Philippine National
Police's Special Weapons and Tactics team at the Bonifacio shrine
near the Manila City Hall compound, where traffic has been sealed
off and the surrounding roads were blocked by vehicles.
Police were tipped off that an ongoing robbery was taking place
at around 9:30 AM local time (01:30 GMT) and an alert was issued to
their mobile units.
It is not known whether the hostage-taking has anything to do
with the race for Manila mayor with two candidates competing for
the seat in the May 14 poll.
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2007)
