TEHRAN, July 03 - Videos appeared on social media showing Philippine mayor of Tanauan city in Batangas province south of Manila was shot and killed by a sharp shooter during a flag-raising ceremony in front of hundreds of people on Monday.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The Philippine mayor Antonio Halili who paraded drug suspects in public but was alleged to have ties with drug dealers was killed by a sniper Monday in an attack during a flag-raising ceremony in front of hundreds of horrified employees and village leaders.
According to a report by AP, the apparent lone gunshot felled Mayor of Tanauan city as he and about 300 employees and newly elected village leaders sang the national anthem in a parking lot outside the city hall. The gunman escaped, police officials and witnesses said.
Cellphone video shot by Alcazar shows a few men standing around the fallen Halili as gunfire rings out continuously and people cry, scream, run and take cover during the melee. A man yells, 'The mayor is dead, the mayor was shot,' and another desperately calls for a car to take Halili to the hospital. A third man starts blaming his companions for the security breach.
Two years ago, Halili ordered drug suspects to be paraded in public in Tanauan, a small city about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Manila, in a campaign that was dubbed "walks of shame." The suspects were forced to wear cardboard signs that read "I'm a pusher, don't emulate me" in a campaign that alarmed human rights officials.
Police officials, however, also linked Halili to illegal drugs, an allegation he strongly denied. He said at the time that he would resign and would be willing to be publicly paraded as a drug suspect if police could come up with evidence to support the allegation.
Investigators are trying to determine if the killing was linked to Halili's anti-drug campaign.
Source: Tasnim
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