Manila Airport shootout. A former air transport officer tried to take over the NAIA control tower with a team of hired gunmen. Bullets fired, people killed, and the Philippines’ long downward spiral continues. Considering that I just got my holiday tickets in the mail yesterday, this isn’t exactly the kind of news I like hearing.

Update: Panfilo Villaruel, the former air transportation head who was shot down in the takeover attempt, appears to have had some past notoriety: a destructive vendetta against a hotel which would not give him a free night for his being a government official, and allegations of sexual harrasment via Malaya, that ignoble news source for Marcos/Erap apologists. Looks like he ultimately died live on radio, gunned down in the middle of a radio interview.

(Speaking of which, how will the Philippine Obstructionist Opposition Party (POOP) find a way to spin this against the president so they can blame her for more stuff?)

Update 11/08/2003: PDI says he did it because of lack of government support for his projects, while Philstar says he was fed up with politics and corruption. What the PDI omits speaks volumes about their biases. Okay, never mind.