Three killed ahead of RP elections

Three killed ahead of RP elections

COTABATO, Philippines (Reuters): Gunmen armed with assault rifles shot dead a mayor and two others in the southern Philippines yesterday in the first violence ahead of the May 11 national election.

Mayor Abdullah Paglas, a member of President Fidel Ramos' ruling Lakas party, was eating in his kitchen when 15 men surrounded his house in Colombio, Sultan Kudarat province, and opened fire, police said.

Two neighbors, one a local councilor, rushed out of their houses when they heard the gunfire and were also shot down, police said. The assassins escaped.

The killings in the southern Mindanao region were the first confirmed cases of campaign violence ahead of the elections, in which Filipinos will elect a new president, Congress and about 17,000 local officials.