MANILA, Philippines – Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili is the latest local executive killed since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed power in July 2016.
Halili was shot dead on Monday morning, July 2, during a weekly flag ceremony in front of city hall.
Rappler tallies at least 2 vice mayors and 8 mayors slain based on media reports between July 2016 and July 2018. With the exception of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr who was shot dead while detained, all were killed while holding office:
1. Pamplona Vice Mayor Aaron Sampaga – August 2016
Pamplona Vice Mayor Aaron Sampaga was killed by unidentified gunmen on August 5, 2016 in Cagayan province. He was 3-term Pamplona mayor before his sister Arnie Angelica Sampaga was elected mayor during the May 2016 elections.
2. Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom – October 2016
Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom was killed in an alleged shootout with state operatives on October 28, 2016 in Makilala, North Cotabato. He was flagged down at a checkpoint “based on information that the group will transport illegal drugs to Maguindanao and Cotabato area.”
Dimaukom was one of the local officials on the drug list of President Duterte.
3. Albera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr – November 2016
Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr was killed in a reported shootout inside his jail cell at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City on November 5, 2016. Authorities alleged they were serving a search warrant when he resisted.
Espinosa arrested by police in October 2016 in connection with violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition after a PNP raid in his house yielded 11 kilos of suspected methamphetamine worth an estimated P88 million, and high-powered weapons.
He and his son, Kerwin, were among the first alleged drug personalities named Duterte.
4. Datu Saudi Ampatuan Vice Mayor Anwar Sindatuk – November 2016
Datu Saudi Ampatuan Vice Mayor Anwar Sindatuk was entertaining guests inside his home in Maguindanao when an unidentified suspect shot him at close range on November 26, 2016.
Initially elected as the town's number one councilor, Sindatuk assumed the post of vice mayor after the previous vice mayor, Anida Dimaukom, assumed the post of mayor to replace the slain Dimaukom.
5. Pantar Mayor Mohammad Exchan Limbona – December 2016
Pantar, Lanao del Norte Mayor Mohammad Exchan Limbona was killed in an ambush in Iligan City on December 29, 2016. He was with his wife, daughter, and two escorts when an unidentified group open fired at his vehicle in Barangay Dalipuga.
Local police said that possible motive for the killing could either be politics or rido, a family feud.
6. Marcos Mayor Arsenio Agustin – June 2017
Marcos town Mayor Arsenio Agustin was gunned down by unidentified men in his town in Ilocos Norte on June 3, 2017 while he inspecting a water impounding project. He and his driver, Mark Valencia, were declared dead on arrival.
7. Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel – June 2017
Bien Unido, Bohol Mayor Gisela Bendon-Boniel was believed to have been abducted and killed on June 7, 2016 allegedly by her husband, Bohol Board Member Niño Rey Boniel, over marital issues. Her remains are yet to be found.
8. Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog – July 2017
Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others, including his wife Susan, brother Octavio Jr, and sister Mona, were killed in a police raid on July 30, 2017. State agents were allegedly serving a search warrant when Parojinog's security personnel attacked.
The Parojinogs, an influential clan in Misamis Occidental, are among those named by Duterte in his list of local government offiicals allegedly involved in the drug trade.
9. Buenavista Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol – May 2018
Buenavista, Bohol Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol was shot at close range by an unidentified man while inside the town's cockpit arena on May 27, 2018. He was declared dead on arrival.
10. Tanuan City Mayor Antonio Halili – July 2018
Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili was shot dead on July 2, 2018 during a weekly flag-raising ceremony in front of city hall. He grabbed headlines for implementing a “walk of shame” for drug suspects back in 2016, which was slammed by the Commission on Human Rights because parading suspects was unconstitutional.
In November 2017, after the Duterte administration linked him to illegal drugs, the National Police Commission stripped Halili of powers to supervise the local police. Halili refused to heed calls for him to surrender. – Rappler.com
This list will be updated as needed.