BACARRA (AFP) - A mayor and a local councilman were shot dead at the weekend in the northern Philippines in the latest violence following this month's mid-term elections, police said Monday.
The gunman opened fire at an agricultural fair in Bacarra, killing Philip Velasco, who had won his third three-year term as mayor less than a week before, and councilman Marcelo Andaya, police said.
Six others were wounded, including a member of the board in Ilocos Norte province, before security staff shot and killed the attacker, police investigator Marcelino Corpuz told AFP.
Velasco and Andaya both had won election in the May 14 polls. Police were investigating whether the killings were directly linked to the election.
More than 130 people have been killed since in poll-related violence since candidates launched their campaigns for all 275 seats in the House of Representatives, half of the 24 Senate seats and more than 17,000 local posts.
The manual vote count remains unfinished in many areas of the country, keeping political tensions high ahead of the announcement of official results.