Philippine mayor, two others slain in ambush
The gunmen fled in a van which was later found abandoned in a nearby town.
MANILA (AFP) - Gunmen shot dead a town mayor and two other people in a daylight roadside ambush in the Philippines on Saturday, police said.
Mayor Ernesto Balolong was walking in his rural town of Urbiztondo, north of Manila, when armed men opened fire killing him, his police escort and a bystander, the police report said in Manila.
The gunmen fled in a van which was later found abandoned in a nearby town.
Police do not have a motive for the attack on the mayor who was a member of President Benigno Aquino s ruling party.
In other attacks, local officials in the Philippines have been targeted by political rivals or communist insurgents but investigators could not immediately say if Balolong had previously received any threats to his life.
