A Filipino angry at being fired from the police was holding hostage 15 Hong Kong tourists and their driver on a bus in downtown Manila on Monday.
Divers found ghostly white bodies floating inside a passenger ferry in the Philippines on Tuesday, raising fears of a mass grave below the waves.
Rescuers held little hope on Monday of finding about 800 people missing from a capsized ferry in the Philippines as large swells hampered divers.
Filipinos braced themselves for allegations of fraud and more violence on Monday as a lengthy vote count followed congressional and local elections marred by ambushes and shoot-outs. At least six people were killed during polling, which was expected to maintain the political status quo.