Arthur Cabantac, mayor of Agno town in Pangasinan, died from four bullet wounds on the way to hospital after he was shot at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, local news network INQUIRER.NET quoted provincial police chief as saying.
Isagani Nerez, Pangasinan police director, said police found four empty shells of an M-16 Armalite rifle at the scene, which are believed to have been fired at Cabantac through an open window facing the road.
Nerez said Cabantac was the lone target of last night's shooting.
Police said they are eying political and personal motives behind the murder.
Political assassination has become a common practice in towns and cities in this Southeast Asia nation in recent years, especially when an election is looming.
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, the report said.
