DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines--The mayor of Agno, Pangasinan, was shot dead while he was playing mahjong with friends in a neighbor's house on Saturday night.

Senior Supt. Isagani Nerez, Pangasinan police director, said Agno Mayor Arthur Cabantac died from four bullet wounds after a gunman shot him at 9:30 p.m. through an open window in Barangay (Village) Poblacion East in the town.

Cabantac, 55, died while being taken to the Family Doctors Hospital in Alaminos City.

Investigators found four empty shells of an M16 Armalite rifle at the crime scene.

Nerez believed the gunman trained his gun through an open window facing the road. He said Cabantac was the only one hit in the table of four players.

Cabantac's police escort and security aides were not around when the mayor was attacked, he said.

Nerez said investigators have been looking at political and personal motives as possible reasons for the murder.

Cabantac defeated former Mayor Leticia Rosete by 68 votes in the 2007 elections. His win snapped the Rosete family's hold of Agno politics since 1980.

Cabantac will be succeeded by Vice Mayor Jose Pajeta Jr., whose mother is Rosete's sister.

Adev Cabantac, wife of the slain mayor, said Cabantac left a good paying job in a construction company to run for mayor because he wanted to develop his hometown.

She said Cabantac retired from the National Housing Authority, where he last served as director for Metro Manila, after working in the government for 30 years.

After retirement, Cabantac joined the private sector. He ran for mayor of Agno in 2004 but lost. He won in his second attempt in 2007.

"Wala siyang kaaway kaya wala siyang bodyguard. Gusto lang niyang pagandahin at paasensuhin ang Agno kaya siya nag-mayor (He did not need bodyguards because he had no enemies. He wanted to develop Agno so he ran for mayor)," she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) in a telephone interview on Sunday.

She said Cabantac would play mahjong occasionally with friends as a form of relaxation.

Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico Jr., national president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, condemned Cabantac's killing.

"The situation in Pangasinan is becoming different now. Why is it that there have been many killings in the province and not one has been solved?" Guico said in a telephone interview on Sunday.

At least three Pangasinan councilors have been murdered since October 2007, prompting the Philippine Councilors' League provincial president Raul Sison to file a resolution at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial council) asking the Philippine National Police to immediately solve these cases.

On July 1, San Quintin Councilor Albert Sibayan was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen while Binalonan Councilor Igmedio Lariosa was attacked while he was walking home in Barangay (Village) Camangaan on June 29.

Alcala Councilor Juan Ablao was also shot dead on Oct. 22, 2007, while he was on his way home.

Guico said he asked San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao, LMP executive vice president, to convene a meeting of Pangasinan mayors in Lingayen town on Monday, Aug. 4 to assess the situation.