Phone call ends RP hostage drama

Phone call ends RP hostage drama

MANILA (UPI): A long-distance telephone call from Japan yesterday ended a 12-hour hostage drama staged by a love-struck man who took two people hostage after his girlfriend refused to answer his overseas telephone calls.

A telephone conversation between Jose Quinto, 37, and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Myra Fajardo, was aired nationwide by Manila radio station DZMM early yesterday.

"Papa, please stop it, have pity on them," Fajardo, who works in Japan, is heard pleading to Quinto, who had taken Fajardo's sister Olivia and Lailani Aquino hostage in the Manila suburb of Kalookan.

"I love you, I hope you understand me," Fajardo sobbed. Quinto surrendered to authorities after hearing the words of his girlfriend. The hostage drama began around 6:00 p.m. local time Tuesday when Quinto, armed with a knife and grenade, barged into the Fajardos' residence and took two people hostage after failing to contact his girlfriend.

Tension gripped the neighborhood as police and local officials tried to persuade the love-struck man to release his hostages. Quinto threatened to explode the grenade unless he was allowed to talk to his girlfriend.