Thread: Gunmen Kill Mayor Accused by Philippine Leader of Drug Links

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a mayor in the central Philippines on Wednesday, police said, in a killing that occurred two years after President Rodrigo Duterte tagged him as a protector of drug pushers.

Mariano Blanco III, the mayor of Ronda town, in central Cebu province, was sleeping inside his office before dawn when four unidentified men broke in, overpowered his bodyguards and opened fire, police investigator Dionisio Tagupa said.

Blanco became the 17th local government official to be killed since Duterte took office in June 2016 and launched a bloody anti-drug campaign.

“After a second, a burst of fire was heard from the mayor’s office and then the unidentified persons left,” Tagupa told reporters.

The gunmen were aboard a van, Tagupa said, citing an account from the mayor’s aides.

No suspects have been identified.

In 2016, Duterte publicly accused Blanco of protecting drug dealers but did not provide evidence. The allegation forced the mayor to change his daily routine, and this included sleepovers at his office.

In February this year, Blanco’s nephew, Jonah John Ungab, who was also the town’s vice mayor, was shot dead by gunmen outside a court house. Ungab was serving as legal counsel of confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

In July, two mayors were killed in ambushes by gunmen that took place a day apart. One of the victims was Antonio Halili, mayor of Tanauan city, south of Manila, who was slain by a sniper’s bullet in front of city employees. The brazen attack happened during a flag-raising ceremony.

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

Among other mayors killed was Espinosa’s father, 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 raid at his home.

During the past two years, Duterte had publicly waved a list of officials that included police officers, military personnel and judges. He accused them of being involved in the illicit drug trade. His drugs war, according to rights advocates, has left at least 12,000 dead.

Duterte was forced to halt his anti-drugs operations last year following intense criticism from rights groups. But at his annual speech before Congress in June, he warned that his bloody campaign would continue, vowing that it would be “as relentless and chilling” as the day it began.

Duterte, in the meantime, faces two murder complaints before the Hague-based International Criminal Court. The charges were filed by the families of victims in his administration’s war on drugs and by two members of his alleged death squad when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao.


https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...018124216.html

Originally Posted by misskit

Gunmen Kill Mayor Accused by Philippine Leader of Drug Links

Duterte done it. Sorted.

Originally Posted by Norton

Duterte done it. Sorted.

....and his odd and steadfast popularity doesn't seem to be waning.

re: read the new story in New Mandala.

The elitist constitutionalism bit? Seems all the trend these days.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

....and his odd and steadfast popularity doesn't seem to be waning.

re: read the new story in New Mandala.

Stop making shit up Jeff, you fucking idiot.

Polls show Duterte’s popularity is on the wane

Polls show Duterte's popularity is on the wane | Asia Times

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Stop making shit up Jeff, you fucking idiot.

Polls show Duterte’s popularity is on the wane


Polls show Duterte's popularity is on the wane | Asia Times

Hmmm....
Sources differ one from the next taxing the respective imbiber.

Small example:
My New Mandala of respectable and thoughtful reputation.
Your Asia Times reveling in a highly suspect and disreputed environment.

There's nothing less cunning and yellow than random and agenda-ridden polls and surveys [which actually has nothing to do with credibility] and attempting to pass off as legitimate "news" worthy.
Those that fall prey to this manipulative manner might check their challenging skills.

Oh well.....the usual crowd easily taken in by the very worn convention, disregarding anything the strays from their invented comfort zone and already compromised agendas.

Harks back to the contemporary adage: Everything You Know is Wrong.

Well that about puts the dart in the eye.


Depending on how one looks at it.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Hmmm....
Sources differ one from the next taxing the respective imbiber.

Small example:
My New Mandala of respectable and thoughtful reputation.
Your Asia Times reveling in a highly suspect and disreputed environment.

There's nothing less cunning and yellow than random and agenda-ridden polls and surveys [which actually has nothing to do with credibility] and attempting to pass off as legitimate "news" worthy.
Those that fall prey to this manipulative manner might check their challenging skills.

Oh well.....the usual crowd easily taken in by the very worn convention, disregarding anything the strays from their invented comfort zone and already compromised agendas.

Harks back to the contemporary adage: Everything You Know is Wrong.

In other words you haven't got a fucking source and you made it up.

You're not very bright are you?

Originally Posted by katie23

@Jeff & Harry - Harry is right, according to the latest SWS survey here. I've always found SWS surveys to be good representations of whatever issue they're talking about. From a satisfaction rating of 60+% when he was elected, now it's down to 45%. He's still very popular in Mindanao (his "hood"), popular in Visayas, but not so much in Luzon & Metro Manila.

Inflation is high. The US dollar is high, the peso is low. Prices of goods & services have gone up, because of the new tax law. So, many people are discontented.

There are also rumors of him being ill (been for some time, and I've mentioned it in other threads), but that's another story.

SWS survey:

https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcl...20180710155308

Jeff will be along soon to tell you that he knows more about the Phils sitting in his basement in Portland than you do.