Duterte is the Philippine version of Trump who is behind this shootout.
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Philippine Mayor Linked to Drug Crimes Killed by Police in Prison Shootout
| Wall Street Journal | - |
Philippine
police killed a town mayor in his jail cell Saturday in a purported
gunbattle with officers, the second killing in a week of a politician
linked to illegal drugs under the president's brutal crackdown.
ENLARGE
Albuera Mayor Rolando
Espinosa Sr. with Philippine National Police Director General Ronald
Dela Rosa at a media event after Mr. Espinosa surrendered to police in
August.
Photo:
European Pressphoto Agency
Rolando Espinosa Sr., mayor of Albuera town in central Leyte province, was shot dead in a predawn police raid on cells in the provincial jail in Leyte’s Baybay city. Police said Mr. Espinosa and another inmate, who was also killed in the incident, fired at officers who were searching for firearms and illegal drugs.
Some officials and an anticrime watchdog have called for an investigation of the circumstances of the killings, including how the pair got hold of guns and what prompted them to clash with several policemen.
Last week, police killed another town mayor, Samsudin Dimaukom from the small southern town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, and nine other people in a reported gunbattle in the southern Philippines.
Related
- Philippine Police Gun Down Mayor in Antidrug Campaign (Oct. 28, 2016)
- Philippine Leader Duterte Links Judges, Politicians, Police to Illegal Drug Trade (Aug. 7, 2016)
- Behind Duterte’s Break With the U.S., a Lifetime of Resentment (Oct. 21, 2016)
After being linked by Mr. Duterte to illegal drugs, Mr. Espinosa surrendered to the national police chief in August in a nationally televised event. He was later released but was arrested last month after being indicted on drug and illegal possession of firearm charges.
Thousands of suspected drug dealers and users have been killed since Mr. Duterte took office on June 30. The unprecedented crackdown and killings have alarmed some Western governments and human-rights watchdogs, prompting calls to end the killings.
Mr. Duterte has lashed out critics, saying he is dealing with a pandemic that has afflicted politics and threatened to turn the country into what he describes as a “narco state,” similar to some Latin American countries.
