Philippine mayor, 13 others killed in raids linked to drugs
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Police in the southern Philippines said they fatally shot a city mayor who was among the politicians President Rodrigo Duterte publicly linked to illegal drugs and at least 13 others Sunday, in one of the bloodiest assaults so far under Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown.
Officers were to serve warrants to Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. of Ozamiz city to search his houses for the suspected presence of unlicensed firearms when gunmen opened fire on the police, sparking clashes that killed the mayor and at least 13 other people, police Senior Superintendent Jaysen de Guzman said by phone.
Aside from the mayor’s residence, three other houses were raided in the port city in Misamis Occidental province and resulted in the arrests of five suspects, including the mayor’s daughter. At least one police officer was wounded during the clashes, police said.
‘‘We have reports that armed bodyguards are carrying unlicensed weapons,’’ regional police Chief Superintendent Timoteo Pacleb said, adding that an undetermined number of assault rifles, grenades, suspected methamphetamine and cash were seized in the raids.
‘‘The administration vowed to intensify the drug campaign,’’ presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in connection with the police raids in Ozamiz. ‘‘The Parojinogs, if you would recall, are included in (Duterte’s) list of personalities involved in the illegal drug trade.’’
Parojinog, who also faced corruption charges, had denied any links to illegal drugs. He was the third mayor to be killed under Duterte’s bloody crackdown on drugs, which has left more than 3,000 dead in reported gunfights with police and thousands of other unexplained deaths of suspects.
The police officers were ‘‘met with volleys of fire from (the mayor’s) security, prompting the Philippine National Police personnel to retaliate,’’ Pacleb said. Parojinog, his wife and a brother were among the dead, police said.