Philippine police kill 1, hold 4 alleged assassins

MANILA: Philippine police say they have killed a retired officer and arrested four other suspect hitmen as part of a crackdown aimed at preventing election violence next year.
Police intelligence director Charles Calima says police raided five suspected hideouts of a group of hitmen in two provinces north of Manila on Thursday. They arrested four alleged members of the syndicate and killed one suspect in the raids.
Calima says police seized pistols, a grenade, ammunition and a motorcycle in the raids in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija provinces.
More than 18,000 congressional and local positions will be decided in elections next May. Violence and fraud are an ugly hallmark of past Philippine elections.