This is the dramatic moment a father allegedly held his own daughter hostage in front of hundreds of onlookers in the Philippines.

The suspect, identified by police only as Marvin, 26, reportedly grabbed the one-year-old girl named Lady Natalie before fleeing from their home in Taytay town in Rizal province, on January 25 evening.

Police temporarily blocked traffic on the busy C-6 highway, where Marvin held the crying child at knifepoint in front of the shocked crowd.

Footage shows Marvin kneeling next to a police truck while being cuffed by cops as residents cheered after a tense hour-long negotiation. He was detained at the Taytay Municipal Police Station pending prosecution.

The terrified child was rescued and given first aid for a minor cut on her neck.

Police Colonel Felipe Maraggun, director of the provincial police, said Marvin went berserk after his live-in partner reported him for allegedly raping his 13-year-old stepdaughter.

He said: 'The suspect wanted to escape the crime he committed. Reportedly, he molested his stepdaughter.

'After he learned that his partner reported him to the police, he was triggered and went on a rampage. But based on the situation, we felt that he wouldn't have hurt the toddler because that was his own daughter. Our priority at that time was the safety of both the hostage and the hostage taker.'

The girlfriend claimed she had seen Marving sexually abusing the teenager - her daughter from a previous relationship.

She said: 'He practically turned the girl into a sex toy. He raped her whenever he had the chance. He fled the house after we found out, but we did not notice that he had come home on Saturday evening.

'He ran upstairs and he tried to stab my teenage daughter. She stopped the knife with her bare hands, and I also held the knife and pulled it away. I was wounded, but if I hadn't done so, he would have stabbed her in the neck. After that, he grabbed the toddler and ran onto C-6 road.'

She added that her daughter confessed the alleged sexual abuse had been happening for around eight years.

Speaking inside his jail cell today, the suspect asked his family for forgiveness.

He said: 'I had no intention in wielding the knife. I was not myself. My mind was not in a good place.

'Forgive me, my children. I did not intend to do what I did. I am asking forgiveness from my wife. I did not want those incidents to happen. Forgive me. I want to be with you, I want our family to be whole again.'

Police said Marvin faces charges for violating the 'Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act', alarm and scandal, illegal possession of a bladed weapon, and molestation. He was remanded in custody at the Taytay Municipal Station.