Three dead in Pampanga ambush

MANILA, Philippines – Three village officials have been killed in an ambush in Pampanga in an attack that could be linked to local political rivalries, police said Sunday.

The victims were aboard a government vehicle when attacked by two gunmen on a motorcycle late Saturday in the agricultural town of Bacolor, police said.

“The victims were on their way back home when waylaid by unidentified masked armed men,” said local city police chief Ferdinand Perez.

“They died on the spot due to multiple gunshot wounds.”

Perez said the motive for the attack was under investigation, although police were not discounting the possibility that it was linked to local politics.

Voters across the Philippines will choose leaders and council members in over 40,000 villages in October.

Philippine elections are often marred by violence, especially in contests involving local positions.

Politicians are known to control “private armies” and bribery, intimidation and revenge killings are common.

More than 60 people were killed in the run-up to the mid-term elections for members of the nation’s legislature as well as town mayors and provincial governors in May.