BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Yet another drug personality fell at the hands of assassins minutes before lunch Friday.
Mario Agbuya, 41, was shot by assassins three times in front of his own home along Lopez Jaena street in Aurora Hill.
Police said Agbuya earlier surrendered to police for drug peddling.
Since July, 18 have been killed in Baguio City for their alleged drug-related activities.
At Thursday noon, a woman said to be at the top of the drug watch list of Baguio Police Station 2 was also shot along Hangar Market road in upper Magsaysay Ave. while doing a customer's nails.
READ: Drug killings hurt Baguio's image, says mayor
Bagui City Mayor Mauricio Domogan has already ordered the Baguio City Police Office to form a team that will investigate drug-related deaths that happen outside of legitimate police operations. As of Sept.19, four people had died in police operations.
Domogan gave the order in response to drug-related killings in the city that happened near school zones.
"This will reflect on the image of the city and the image of the police," the mayor said this week. "We should conduct investigations on who is responsible."
The Senate is holding hearings on the rise in drug-related extrajudicial killings. According to the Philippine National Police, it has 1,971 cases of "death under investigation", with investigations ongoing on 1,660 of those. The PNP also said 197 cases have been solved, meaning arrests have already been made.