Watch: Tanauan City Mayor Thony Halili Shot Dead During Flag Ceremony (Video)

Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio “Thony” Halili was shot while he was attending the flag raising ceremony at the city hall on Monday, July 2, 2018. Known for his “Walk of Shame” campaign, he was declared dead shortly after. A short video of the said flag ceremony was posted on Facebook, where a gunshot was heard. Watch it below.

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As you can see on the video, posted by Gerry Yson Laresma, Mayor Halili was standing beside other city hall officials and preparing for the flag ceremony. As the national anthem is being played, everyone, including the mayor placed their right hand on their hearts as a sign of respect. But before the song ended, a loud gunshot was heard.

At that time, the camera was not focused on Mayor Halili and the actual shooting was not shown. Nevertheless, people can be heard screaming and started to panic. According to Police Region 4A PIO Chief Superintendent Chitadel Gaoiran, the shooting incident happened at around 7:45 am, and that the controversial mayor was shot in his chest.

Reports said that Mayor Halili was rushed to the CP Reyes Hospital but was later pronounced dead. As of posting, police have not identified a suspect and his motive, and the case is still under thorough investigation. The Tanauan mayor made headlines with his "walk of shame" campaign against crime suspects, which he has been implementing since 2013.



Mayor Halili was being dubbed as being President Duterte’s version in his city. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has been criticizing him for shaming drug suspects, thieves and even scammers by parading them on the streets and in the market. In November 2017, he was stripped over the control of the local police.



“Based on intelligence report, which is an invented report, that I am a cohort of Mayor (Cipriano) Goto Violago of San Rafael, Bulacan,” Halili said at that time, noting that he already saw the intelligence report linking him to illegal drugs. Nevertheless, he categorically denied all the accusations, and insisted he personally know Violago.

Contributed by Orlando Gagui