The mayor of Sudipen municipality in La Union and two others were shot dead in an ambush Monday afternoon, police said..

Mayor Alexander Buquing was going home from his office at 6:40 pm when gunmen on a white pickup truck fired at his vehicle in Bangar town. He and P02 Rolando Juanbe were declared dead on arrival at the Ilocos Sur District Hospital in Tagudin, police said.

His wife, Wendy Joy and Boni Depdepen were rushed to Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando but Depdepen was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police in Bangar, Balaoan, Sudipen and Tagudin in Ilocos Sur were mobilized to conduct dragnet operations while La Union provincial police conducted follow-up operations on the suspects' possible escape routes. DMS