Manila: Suspected communist rebels shot dead a town mayor during a flag ceremony at a municipal hall in northern Luzon, Philippine police have said.

Two armed men, believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the 46-year old Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), shot dead Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. of Gonzaga town, Cagayan Valley as he was about to give a speech after the singing of the national anthem at Gonzaga town’s municipal hall at past seven in the morning, Cagayan provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Gregorio Lim said in a report.

Pentecostes sustained three fatal gunshot wounds, the report said, adding the killers wore military uniforms and even shook hands with the mayor before shooting him.

The killers and their companions clashed briefly with the police officers who rushed to the scene of the crime.

But the killers dramatically escaped on a commandeered police car, followed by other NPA members who sped away using a van and a small truck, Lim said.

There were about 20 suspected NPA members who attended the flag ceremony. They were recognised by those who witnessed the shooting incident, Lim said.

The CPP-NPA has been against the rampant mining of black sand in Cagayan and blamed Pentecostes for the activities, an environment group said.

The CPP-NPA has not formally claimed responsibility for the killing.

Two of the mayor’s bodyguards were reportedly killed during the shooting incident, a military source who did not give further details said.

The Philippines government and the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) have been holding on and off peace talks since 1992.

They have forged initial agreements, but they have not yet signed a ceasefire agreement, which prevented negotiators from holding talks without sporadic clashes between government soldiers and NPA members.

The NDF has refused the government’s demand for the forging of a ceasefire agreement. At the same time, the government has denied the NDF’s demand for the release of arrested peace consultants as a condition for the resumption of formal peace talks.

“It’s a stalemate, but both parties have continued holding back channel talks,” observers said.

The CPP-NPA is the longest running leftist rebel group in Southeast Asia.