Three village officials have been killed in an ambush in the northern Philippines in an attack that could be linked to local political rivalries, police said Sunday.
The victims were aboard a government vehicle when attacked by two gunmen on a motorcycle late Saturday in the agricultural town of Bacolour, 50 kilometres north of Manila, police said.
“The victims were on their way back home when waylaid by unidentified masked armed men,” said local city police chief Ferdinand Perez.
“They died on the spot due to multiple gunshot wounds.”
Perez said the motive for the attack was under investigation, although police were not discounting the possibility that it was linked to local politics.
Voters across the Philippines will choose leaders and council members in over 40,000 villages in October.