At least one person has been shot as a gunman is reportedly holding dozens hostage in a shopping centre in a city east of Manila.
Police surrounded V-Mall in San Juan's Greenhills commercial district at noon local time today after gunshots were heard.
One person has been taken to hospital after being shot, according to reports.
As gunshots rung out, thousands of shoppers and vendors rushed for the exits in a panic, though 30 people are being held hostage inside - allegedly by a former V-Mall security guard.
Reports Straits Times, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora told reporters at the scene the guard had returned to "make some demands".
"He was trying to convince other guards to join him in some sort of coup d'etat against the mall management," he said.
Mr Zamora, who was at the scene attempting to negotiate with the gunman, said the suspect appeared to have brought grenades with him.
A video posted to Twitter shows an apparently injured man being carried through the mall by staff before being put into a wheel-chair as people flee around them.
Zamora added: "He is carrying a pistol. He is shouting he has a grenade but we don't have any way to confirm that for sure,"
The shot man was in hospital in a stable, he said.
A SWAT team was seen entering the four-storey mall, which has more than 100 outlets. Shoppers were evacuated and a security cordon established around it.
The gunman was sacked by the company that provides security for the mall and had tried to get other guards involved, Zamora
said, adding that he was demanding to speak to his former colleagues by video call.
"He was trying to initially to get the other guards to join him for some sort of coup d'etat against the mall management,"
he told news channel ANC.
Anna Alberto, whose daughter Pauline works in the office, said she was concerned about her safety.
"She is there in the office. We cannot contact her so I am worried," she said.
