December 20, 2013, 10: 38 AM
Philipine Mayor Ukol Talumpa picture in Labangan on April 7, 2013 (AFP photo)
A Policeman inspects the crime scene after gunman opened fire outside Manila International Airport on December 20, 2013 (AFT Photo)
A gunman attacked a Philippine mayor
as he left the country's main airport
on Friday along with crowds of Christmas travelers, killing him, his wife, a
child and another man, authorities and witnesses said.
The gunman fired on Labangan Mayor Ukol Talumpa outside Terminal 3 at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, named after President Benigno Aquino III's father, who was assassinated there 30 years ago. The terminal handles international and domestic flights, and is supposed to be a relatively well-guarded facility. Talumpa had arrived from Zamboanga del Sur, the southern province where Labangan is located.
There was no word on a possible motive, but violent attacks linked to political rivalries, family feuds and business disputes are common in the Philippines, and have left hundreds of people dead over the years. Talumpa himself had survived at least two earlier assassination attempts, according to local media reports.
The mayor and his wife were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital along with a 1 1/2-year-old boy and a 25-year-old man, said the airport's general manager, Jose Angel Honrado.
"I heard gunshots so I whipped out my pistol and ran to the area. But the gunman had fled. He had an accomplice on a motorcycle," said the officer.
"People were shocked and just stood there so I could not shoot," he added.
The Philippines is infamous for a brutal brand of democracy where politicians -- particularly at local and provincial levels -- are willing to bribe, intimidate or kill to ensure they win.
More than 60 people were killed in last May's elections, when 18,000 posts from provincial governor to town and city mayors as well as city and town executive councils were contested.
Talumpa and his party were attacked Friday as they stepped out of the passenger terminal shortly after getting off a flight from the southern Philippines, Manila airport general Angel Honrado told reporters.
Four people were killed and four others wounded in the broad daylight shooting, he added.
Philipine Mayor Ukol Talumpa picture in Labangan on April 7, 2013 (AFP photo)
A Policeman inspects the crime scene after gunman opened fire outside Manila International Airport on December 20, 2013 (AFT Photo)
A gunman attacked a Philippine mayor
as he left the country's main airport
on Friday along with crowds of Christmas travelers, killing him, his wife, a
child and another man, authorities and witnesses said.The gunman fired on Labangan Mayor Ukol Talumpa outside Terminal 3 at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, named after President Benigno Aquino III's father, who was assassinated there 30 years ago. The terminal handles international and domestic flights, and is supposed to be a relatively well-guarded facility. Talumpa had arrived from Zamboanga del Sur, the southern province where Labangan is located.
There was no word on a possible motive, but violent attacks linked to political rivalries, family feuds and business disputes are common in the Philippines, and have left hundreds of people dead over the years. Talumpa himself had survived at least two earlier assassination attempts, according to local media reports.
The mayor and his wife were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital along with a 1 1/2-year-old boy and a 25-year-old man, said the airport's general manager, Jose Angel Honrado.
"It's extremely deplorable that even the wife, grandson and a staff (assistant) were also killed."
An
airport policeman, who asked not to be named, told AFP he was on duty
about 10 metres (33 feet) away when the mayor and his party were
attacked.
"I heard gunshots so I whipped out my pistol and ran to the area. But the gunman had fled. He had an accomplice on a motorcycle," said the officer.
"People were shocked and just stood there so I could not shoot," he added.
"We
tried to chase them in a police van but got caught up in the traffic,"
he said, adding the gunman was wearing a police cap and a blue jacket.
Brutal brand of democracy
Talumpa,
an opposition leader who was the town's former vice mayor, had defeated
in the May 2013 elections the incumbent mayor who is a political ally
of President Benigno Aquino.
He had earlier survived a grenade attack that injured a police
bodyguard on the troubled southern region of Mindanao in September last
year, and also escaped an assassination attempt in Manila in 2010,
provincial officials said.The Philippines is infamous for a brutal brand of democracy where politicians -- particularly at local and provincial levels -- are willing to bribe, intimidate or kill to ensure they win.
More than 60 people were killed in last May's elections, when 18,000 posts from provincial governor to town and city mayors as well as city and town executive councils were contested.
Talumpa and his party were attacked Friday as they stepped out of the passenger terminal shortly after getting off a flight from the southern Philippines, Manila airport general Angel Honrado told reporters.
Four people were killed and four others wounded in the broad daylight shooting, he added.
Honrado said the authorities did not know the identity of the gunmen nor the motive for the attack.
In
the footage obtained by GMA, which it said was taken by a bystander,
spilled luggage and trolleys lay scattered on the curb on both sides of
the gunned down man.
Two other people were shown crouching on the curb, while the voices of screaming men and women could be heard.
A
taxi cab and four vans, all their doors open, were stopped on the
driveway, with the hazard lights of one van still blinking on and off.
"This is a very unfortunate incident that did happen at Terminal 3," Honrado said.
"Government agencies are trying their best to determine the perpetrators and bring them to justice."
He appealed to other passengers who witnessed the shooting to help the police identify the suspects.
A
spokesman for the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur, which
includes Labangan, told reporters that Talumpa, a member of the
Nationalist People's Coalition Party, had flown to Manila earlier in the
day with his wife, two nephews and six other people.
