MANILA, Philippines -- Communist guerrillas executed a town mayor in a northern province after a kangaroo court found him guilty of 'crimes against the people,' news reports said Monday.
Mayor Romualdez Bediones, 63, mayor of Villaverde, was publicly executed by communist New People#Army guerrillas Saturday outside his town in Nueva Vizcaya province 140 miles north of Manila, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
It quoted Nueva Vizcaya constabulary chief Col. Rufo Pulido as saying Bediones was abducted Jan. 3 from his house, kept for seven days, then publicly tried by a kangaroo court and executed.
Soldiers retrieved the body of Bediones in the afternoon, the report said.
He was the first mayor to be killed by rebels this year. Last year, 11 mayors died in insurgency-related incidents.
