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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Sniper Fire Kills Philippine Mayor Known for Parading Suspected Criminals

    Sniper Fire Kills Philippine Mayor Known for Parading Suspected Criminals-3322cd86-4428-4a06-ae65-64d1b7aae533-jpeg
    Antonio Halili (third from right), mayor of the Philippine city of Tanauan south of Manila, attends a flag-raising ceremony minutes before he was shot dead apparently by sniper fire outside the municipal hall in Batangas province, July 2, 2018.



    A controversial Philippine mayor known for parading suspected criminals but who was stripped of his powers to supervise the city’s police force last year due to his alleged drug links was killed Monday in front of hundreds of horrified employees, police said.


    Antonio Halili, mayor of Tanauan City in Batangas province south of Manila, was attending the flag-raising ceremony in a parking lot outside the city hall when a sniper’s bullet pierced his chest, sending the crowd into panic, officials said.


    “It appears the gunshot was from a sniper,” regional police chief Edward Carranza told reporters. “Our crime laboratory officials are now here to secure the grounds beside the city hall.”


    The brazen attack, caught live on cellphone video being played by the city staff on Facebook, showed people scampering for safety while at least six shots rang out during the melee. It was unclear if all the shots were directed at the mayor or his bodyguards fired in return.


    The unidentified gunman was able to escape, police said.


    Authorities immediately formed a special investigation task group to look into the killing and determine the shooter’s motive.


    Presidential spokesman Harry Roque condemned Halili’s killing and described him as a strong supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.


    “He was a good mayor and strong supporter of the president’s war on drugs,” Roque said as he promised Halili’s family of justice. He also cautioned the public against engaging in speculation on the killing, even as authorities have yet to conclude their investigation.


    While Halili was known for his tough anti-crime stunts, he had also been accused by police of protecting drug lords. Halili, who denied the allegations about his drug links, was famous for parading around town suspected criminals, including drug addicts, in his “shame campaign.”


    “We don’t know what the relation of his death to the drug list is,” Roque said, noting that human rights advocates had also complained about Halili’s hardline campaign against drugs. “There is a record that he was with the narco list.”


    “The presidential palace promises to give justice to his death,” Roque said.



    Fourth mayor slain in drug war


    Halili was the fourth public official slain since Duterte became president in 2016, vowing to rid the predominantly Catholic country of the drug problem and dump dead criminals on Manila Bay.


    Three other mayors have been killed, including one who was gunned down in jail because he allegedly pulled a gun on officers. Another mayor was slain after allegedly passing a police checkpoint with a huge drug haul in the south, while another was slain along with 14 of his followers during a gun battle that erupted when police launched a raid on his home.


    Carlos Conde, the Philippine researcher of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said that while it did not agree with Halili’s methods in dealing with drugs, “his murder is condemnable.”


    “He may have deprived many Tanauan residents of due process, but that doesn’t mean he should be deprived of it too,” Conde said in a statement.


    He said authorities should move to arrest the mayor’s killers and prosecute them in the courts.


    “We reiterate our call for an end to the culture of impunity in the Philippines where thousands have been killed in extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects, activists, members of indigenous tribes, journalists, priests and politicians like Mayor Halili,” Conde said.



    Unconventional character


    The mayor’s death came shortly after Duterte caused alarm among civil liberty advocates when he proposed to arm village chiefs to join his drugs war that, according to rights advocates, has left at least 12,000 dead during the past two years.


    Sen. Ralph Recto, a Batangas resident, said his friend Halili was the latest victim of political violence in the province.


    He called on the police to immediately solve the murder, before the spiral of violence “incentivizes people to take the law into their own hands and indicts the police for failing to stop it.”


    “When killings are rewarded by the failure of authorities to solve them, it strengthens the culture of violence, where disagreements are settled by permanently silencing the opponent,” Recto said.


    He said Halili was a “colorful” character who had done many things for his constituents, although some may frown on his unconventional style of governance.


    https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...018093940.html
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Sniper Fire Kills Philippine Mayor Known for Parading Suspected Criminals-3322cd86-4428-4a06-ae65-64d1b7aae533-jpeg  

  2. #2
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    In my province. Video's been all over the TV.

  3. #3
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    “He was a good mayor and strong supporter of the president’s war on drugs,”
    Probably what done him in. Either by drug cartels or someone not at all in support of the Presidents war on drugs. More to come for sure.

  4. #4
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    Sniper hide was 400 meters out. Used an M-14, which are fairly common here. Took one round right through the heart.

  5. #5
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Probably what done him in. Either by drug cartels or someone not at all in support of the Presidents war on drugs. More to come for sure.

    Nothing has changed in the PI for decades.....

  6. #6
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton View Post
    Sniper hide was 400 meters out. Used an M-14, which are fairly common here. Took one round right through the heart.
    Familiar with the M14. A kill shot from 400m was not done by an amateur.

  7. #7
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HuangLao View Post
    Nothing has changed in the PI for decades.....
    Sure it has not but I haven't been there for decades.

  8. #8
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Familiar with the M14. A kill shot from 400m was not done by an amateur.
    Nope. I know the M-14 well and agree - but the Philippines is full of good shooters. A gun culture only exceeded by the US. I imagine a scope was used. Some units, like the Scout Rangers and Special Action Force, use M-14's as sniper rifles. Not to suggest their involvement, but more to say the weapon's not tough to find.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Probably what done him in. Either by drug cartels or someone not at all in support of the Presidents war on drugs. More to come for sure.
    Filipinos are just like black men, in that regard. They kill each other for breakfast, lunch and supper (on a daily basis), over the slightest of offences, or most trivial of reasons. So, what else is new news, in the P.I. ?

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TuskegeeBen View Post
    over the slightest of offences, or most trivial of reasons. So, what else is new news, in the P.I.
    One suspects the victim had passed his usefulness stage and knew too much. Which, given his position/record, were "highly likely" to be more than just slight or trivial.

    How was his relationship with the President or the President's opponents?

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    One suspects the victim had passed his usefulness stage and knew too much. Which, given his position/record, were "highly likely" to be more than just slight or trivial.

    How was his relationship with the President or the President's opponents?
    One would logically suspect:

    stripped of his powers to supervise the city’s police force last year due to his alleged drug links

  12. #12
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    I've seen the unedited video. Whoever shot him was a pro. He must have had many enemies due to his "shame campaign".

    IMHO, the shooter was aiming for a bit of drama, as he shot the mayor as the national anthem was reaching its climax part.

    Was a bit shocked to see something like this happen in broad daylight. But then, it's the PI...

  13. #13
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    More to come for sure.
    https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/03/a...ntl/index.html

  14. #14
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    kmart's Avatar
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    Seen the vid. Nice shootin, son.

  15. #15
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    Another mayor was shot yesterday afternoon. He was the mayor of General Tinio town in the province of Nueva Ecija (north of Manila). He was said to be a Du30 supporter, but not in the "narco" list.

    Details here
    Nueva Ecija town mayor shot dead | ABS-CBN News

  16. #16
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    Norton posted a link in #13...

  17. #17
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
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    PI is tough turf for journalists and politicians......................

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat
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    ^^sorry, didn't click Norton's link. I thought it was more details about the Tanauan mayor's shooting.

    Anyway, my source is from a local news network, while Norton's is from CNN. Some ppl here don't like CNN and BBC.

  19. #19
    I am in Jail

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    I thoroughly read the OP and the link. Unless I'm suffering from dyslexia, I did not read anything about the police finding a recently fired M-14,

    at a location 400 meters distance away from the spot where the mayor was shot. In addition, a pro-sniper would definitely not use an M-14. Duh!

  20. #20
    Philippine Expat
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    ^A number of us live here. The M-14 information as well as the distance from the sniper hide to the victim came from TV news. As I said in post 8, M-14's are routinely used as sniper rifles here and in many other countries. As usual, you're full of shit. Have a red.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton View Post
    As usual, you're full of shit. Have a red.
    I'd green you but I'm fresh out.


  22. #22
    I am in Jail

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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Familiar with the M14. A kill shot from 400m was not done by an amateur.
    Exactamundo!

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Sure it has not but I haven't been there for decades.
    Dante's Inferno is a Nirvana, compared to daily life in the P.I. ,... ... Rest assured, you haven't missed a GD thing ^.
    Last edited by TuskegeeBen; 05-07-2018 at 08:07 AM.

  24. #24
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    Anyway, my source is from a local news network
    Which is always a preferred source but we don't have a PI TV news channel here.

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Another Philippine Politician is Gunned Down

    A vice mayor of a remote town in the southern Philippines was shot and killed Wednesday, the latest politician to be gunned down in a wave of attacks targeting public officials, police said.


    Al Rashid Mohammad Ali, the vice mayor of Sapa-Sapa town in the island province of Tawi-Tawi, was travelling in his car in southern Zamboanga City when gunmen on a motorcycle ambushed him, a police report said.


    He was shot three times in the body and was rushed to the hospital, but declared dead upon arrival, the report said.
    Ali was the fourth local official slain under similar circumstances in recent days.


    On Saturday, Alexander Lubigan, a vice mayor in the city of Trece Martires, south of Manila, was killed in his car by gunmen. Two mayors were killed a day apart last week.


    The motive for the attacks remains murky. But in at least one case, President Rodrigo Duterte hinted that the killing was linked to drugs.


    The latest attack brings to about 16 the number of mayor and vice mayors killed since Duterte became president in 2016 and vowed to cleanse government of narco-politicians.

    It was not known, however, if those killed recently were on his list of 150 judges, mayors, police and military personnel the president claimed were involved in the drug trade.

    Duterte has often waved the list during public speeches, but has never divulged how he compiled the list.

    Rights groups have said that as many as 12,000 people have been killed in the drug war waged by the Duterte administration, although the police have only admitted to some 4,000. Police said those who were killed were suspected drug addicts or dealers who died in shootouts with law enforcement officers.

    https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...018141221.html

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