Mayor shot dead during flag raising

BATANGAS — Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili, who has initiated the walk of shame campaign for suspected drug pushers and users, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman during a flag raising ceremony in his city yesterday.

A Facebook live video of the flag-raising ceremony showed the mayor and city hall employees halfway done singing the national anthem "Lupang Hinirang" when one gunshot rang causing a commotion. Tanauan City Public Information Officer Gerry Laresma, who was taking the live video, said they were about to finish singing the national anthem when they heard the gunshot that hit Halili around 8:10 a.m.

Halili was declared dead on arrival at CP Reyes Hospital after sustaining a single gunshot wound on his chest, the Batangas Police Provincial Office said.

In a radio interview, Calabarzon police chief Superintendent Edward Carranza said Halili could have been shot by a sniper.

"We immediately formed a task force to handle the case," Carranza said.

Laresma said the mayor had been continuously receiving death threats after launching an intensive crackdown on drugs in the city.

He was known for parading alleged drug personalities around the city while bearing a sign or wearing shirts identifying them as drug pushers.

Halili was also stripped from police control after alleged links to the drug trade which he had vehemently denied.

Malacañang yesterday vowed that justice will be served to the family of slain Tanuan City Mayor Antonio Halili who was shot dead during a flag-raising ceremony earlier today.

In an interview with DzRH this morning, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace would “do everything to solve this latest killing.”

“We will give justice to the family of Mayor Halili and the town of Tanauan in the province of Batangas,” Roque added in Filipino.

President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman said he and Halili were friends, as he had visited Tanauan City numerous times before. He said he was surprised at the news of the mayor's killing.

“That is really saddening... We know that Tanauan is a very peaceful place, many industries are located there, and it is really saddening that there is such violence in Tanauan,” Roque lamented.

The presidential spokesperson also acknowledged that not only was Halili a staunch advocate against illegal drugs, but he had also built a progressive Tanauan City.