Gunman kills mayor, wife and nephew

The gunman fired on Labangan Mayor Ukol Talumpa outside Terminal 3 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which was crowded with Christmas travellers.

The airport is named after President Benigno Aquino III’s father, who was assassinated there 30 years ago. The terminal handles international and domestic flights, and is supposed to be relatively well-guarded.

Mr Talumpa had arrived from Zamboanga del Sur, the southern province.

The mayor and his wife were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital with an 18-month-old boy and a 25-year-old man, said the airport’s general manager, Jose Angel Honrado.

Local radio reports said that the man was a nephew of the mayor, but that the boy was a bystander.

At least five other people were wounded, including a niece of the mayor and a three-year-old girl who suffered a head wound, hospital authorities said.

There was no word on a possible motive, but violent attacks linked to political rivalries, family feuds and business disputes are common in the Philippines.