A controversial Filipino mayor died after being shot in the chest by an elite gunman

A Filipino mayor known to have paraded drug suspects on "perp walks" was shot dead in Tanauan City, Batangas Province, about 40 miles south of Manila.

Mayor Antonio Halili participated in a weekly ceremony The journalist said that Halili gained local notoriety in 2016 for setting up a "walk of shame" against drug suspects, according to the official press agency. at the Rappler local news site. But the authorities then included him on a list of government officials, members of Congress and mayors, allegedly linked to drug trafficking. Halili was stripped of his powers to oversee local drug operations in November 2017.

The police have not yet confirmed a motive for the shooting.

In a rare concession to human rights, the Philippine National Police (PNP) "Although we do not agree with the method of Mayor Halili to deal with crime and illicit drugs In his city, his assassination is reprehensible, said June Human Rights Watch said it was a statement. "It may have deprived many Tanauan residents of due process, but that does not mean that It should also be denied. "

Officially, police have killed more than 4,250 people in drug operations since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte came to power on June 30, 2016. However, a senator The opposition claims that more than 20,000 people were killed under Duterte's supervision, citing 16,355 other homicide cases classified as "deaths under investigation" between July 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017.

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Before Halili's death, the Philippine police had killed at least three other mayors with alleged links to illicit drugs. Last year, Duterte reinstated 19 policemen who participated in the murder of Leyte mayor, Rolando Espinosa, while he was in jail.