Philippine police kill ex-mayor for drug crimes

MANILA, Jan 05 (New York Times): A former mayor in the southern Philippines who had been accused of drug trafficking by President Rodrigo Duterte was killed Friday in a predawn police raid, the authorities said.

Talib Abo, formerly the mayor of the town of Parang in Maguindanao province, was killed in a shootout with police officers who were raiding his home, the regional head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Juvinal Azurin, said on a local radio station.

Azurin said police also killed Abo's brother, Bobby Abo. Azurin said Bobby Abo, who was killed in a separate raid, had also fired at the police.

Both brothers were on a list of about 150 Philippine officials, police officers and other public servants that Duterte read aloud on live television in 2016, accusing them of being involved in the drug trade, though he offered no evidence against them. Since then, several people on the list have been killed, including the Abo brothers.

Abo, the former mayor, had a long history of conflict with Duterte. As early as 2006, Duterte, then the mayor of the southern city of Davao, publicly accused him of being involved in drugs.