Police killed a central Philippine mayor and two of his aides, while the mayor’s aides killed two of the police officers, in the latest deadly violence involving the police force, officials said yesterday.
“I can only assume that this was a mistaken encounter,” Brigadier General Ronaldo de Jesus, director of the Philippine National Police in Eastern Mindanao, said based on initial police reports.
The police were on a routine patrol when they received fire on Monday afternoon from security aides of Catbalogan City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino, who was being driven in a van in eastern Samar province, De Jesus said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The police returned fire and killed Aquino and two of his aides, including a police escort, while the mayor’s aides killed two of the police officers, who were driving behind the mayor’s van, he said.
“They had suspicions and opened fire on our police officers, and our forces retaliated,” De Jesus told reporters, adding that an investigation was launched.
Video from shortly after the attack showed residents milling around Aquino’s white van, its windows shattered by gunfire and the van peppered with bullet holes.
Spent bullet casings littered the scene of the attack in the middle of a bridge.
Philippine Representative Edgar Sarmiento, a friend of Aquino, said that the mayor, who was on his way to the birthday celebration of his child, might have been targeted, but De Jesus said that the police, who were only on a routine patrol, were not after Aquino.
“It was well-planned. After the van stopped it was immediately hit. It’s good they were able to retaliate,” Sarmiento told DZMM radio in tears. “We’re in a pandemic and things like this still happen.”
Several mayors and provincial officials linked to illegal drugs have been ambushed and killed by unknown gunmen since the election of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, but Sarmiento said that Aquino had no involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Over the weekend, police, backed by military forces, killed nine people in raids against suspected communist insurgents in four provinces near Manila.
Police officials said that the suspects opened fire first, but left-wing groups have said that those killed were unarmed activists.
The Philippine Department of Justice was ordered to investigate the deaths, which have been condemned by left-wing and human rights groups.
Two weeks ago, police and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency armed with assault rifles and pistols engaged in a gunbattle outside a shopping mall in an apparent mistaken clash, while each side was undertaking separate anti-drug operations.
Three law enforcement personnel and a government drug informant were killed.
Many people were trapped in the nearby mall by the gunbattle, which closed the mall and jammed traffic, and was witnessed by many residents, commuters and shoppers.
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