Ex-OFW takes 3 hostages in Pasay

Police officers shot dead a former overseas Filipino worker who took three women, including his niece, hostage in his house in Pasay City past midnight yesterday.

Renato Pascual, 42, a resident of Humilidad street, died of four gunshot wounds in the chest. Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team shot him after he reportedly refused to surrender and threatened to hurt his hostages.

Initial investigation showed that around midnight, Pascual arrived home drunk, went directly to the kitchen and took a bolo just as one of his boarders, Marnelli Licyag, went to the bathroom.

Before Licyag could get out of the bathroom, Pascual blocked her path and took her hostage. During an hour-long negotiation with the police, the suspect demanded his niece, Gladys Pascual, and vendor April Rose Javinar in exchange for releasing Licyag.

After another round of negotiations, Pascual promised to surrender but SWAT police officers, upon seeing that he was about to hurt his victims, fired at him.

Gladys suffered a gunshot wound in the knee while Javinar was unhurt.

Pascual and Gladys were brought to the Manila Sanitarium Hospital, where the attending physician pronounced him dead on arrival.

Pasay police chief Senior Superintendent Marietto Valerio said they are still looking into whether Pascual may have been high on illegal drugs since he made inconsistent statements during the course of the negotiation.