Six officials, including the governor of a province, have been killed in an attack by unknown armed attackers in the Philippines.
A provincial governor in the central Philippines and several others were shot by unknown gunmen in the latest attack on local officials, police said in Senchir, according to the AFP news agency.
According to a statement released by the police, the governor of Negros Oriental province, Ruel Degamo, and other officials were shot dead at Degamo's home in the town of Pamplona.
According to police, six armed men dressed in local force uniforms entered the governor's house and opened fire.
The governor's widow confirmed that six people, including her husband, were shot.
The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where doctors confirmed their death due to bullet injuries.
Provincial police spokeswoman Kim Lopez told AFP the governor was distributing aid to local citizens when the gunmen entered his home.
The Philippines has a long history of attacks on politicians. And the attack on 56-year-old Degamo is the latest incident of violence.
This is the third incident of firing on a politician after the local elections last year.
The Supreme Court last month declared him the actual winner of the contest for the Negros Oriental governorship. Earlier, his rival had won the contest but the slain politician was declared the winner in the recount of votes.
The governor of the southern province of Lanao del Sur was shot and wounded in February in an attack that killed his driver and three policemen.
That same month Rommel Almeida, the vice mayor of the northern town of Apri, and five others traveling with him were shot dead in an ambush on the highway.