The standoff began Sunday at the Metropolitan District Command Center in Davao City.
The military said 12 militiamen and three soldiers were killed Saturday in the ambush of a patrol by guerrillas in Davao del Sur province, 620 miles southeast of Manila.
But the coup rumors, cabinet battles and constitutional debates that rattle Manila go unremarked in places like Davao on Mindanao island, a longer flight from the capital than are Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Military officials said Itaas admitted taking part in three other assassinations of police and military officers in Davao City area. His companion, Angelito Moralla, 23, was held as a suspected member of the rebel logistics command.
The government's Office of Civil Defense said the storm swept Friday over 12 villages in the coastal areas of Malita in Davao del Sur province, 650 miles southeast of Manila.
In Golden, Colo., the U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered in the Pacific about 40 miles off northeast Mindanao and 160 miles from Davao.
(Wigberto) Tanada and all these leftists should see this," Ramos said as he left a wake in Davao for two militiamen slain by Communist rebels.
Legislators have criticized the military's handling of the crisis in Davao City.
More than 100,000 others work the mines in Davao del Norte province, northern Luzon, Masbate Island and other areas of the Philippines.
Political assassinations averaged five to seven a week, says Abelardo Aportadera, a Davao human-rights lawyer.
The hostages were seized Sunday during religious services at the downtown jail in Davao City, 610 miles southeast of Manila.
He said he was summonded to Manila from Davao City a week before the killing to attend a communist meeting on organizational problems.
In another development, the armed forces announced that Communist rebels raided a police station in Davao del Norte province Monday and kidnapped four policemen.
Santos was a former police chief of Davao.
Heavy rains caused a caused the collapse of a maze of tunnels on the slopes of Mount Diwalwal in Davao del Norte province in the southern Philippines.
Police said the hostage-takers were the same convicts who broke out of the Davao Penal Colony in April and seized several hostages to protest conditions at the prison.
Officials said later the promised transfer could not be carried out because the inmates faced additional charges in Davao City in connection with the penal colony escape.