MANILA: Philippine police say van-riding assailants have gunned down the vice mayor of a small city south of Manila in the third such brazen assaults on local officials this week that has sparked an alarm.
Police say Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan of Trece Martires city and his driver were riding in a pickup van when they were shot and killed today in front of a hospital in his city in Cavite province.
The killers escaped.
Mayor Antonio Halili was gunned down while attending a flag-raising ceremony in his city of Tanauan south of Manila on Monday.
Mayor Ferdinand Bote of northern General Tinio town was shot and killed in an SUV the following day by motorcycle-riding assassins.
The killers of both mayors remain at large.