Philippine Mayor with Alleged Drug Links Is Killed by Police

After President Rodrigo Duterte publicly named him as a drug suspect last summer, the mayor of a small Philippine town said he was not worried.

In August the mayor, Samsudin Dimaukom, told The New York Times, “If you are not guilty, why should you be afraid?”

On Friday, he and nine other men were shot dead at a highway police checkpoint, in what the police described as an antidrug operation.

According to the police, Mr. Dimaukom, the mayor of Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, a town of about 20,000 on the restive southern island of Mindanao, was killed after his guards opened fire on officers.

Chief Inspector Elias Colonia, a spokesman for the local police, said the authorities had information that Mr. Dimaukom and his group were transporting a shipment of shabu, a cheap form of methamphetamine widely sold in the Philippines.

According to the police, a checkpoint was set up along his expected route in the town of Makilala, about 70 miles east of Datu Saudi-Ampatuan by road. The mayor and his party approached around 4 a.m., Mr. Colonia said.

“The suspects were heavily armed and fired upon the law enforcers, which prompted them to fire back,” according to a police report. “As a result, 10 malefactors were wounded and brought to a hospital for treatment but were declared dead upon arrival.”

Photographs taken at the scene showed various weapons and what appeared to be sachets of shabu near an S.U.V. with bullet holes in the front windshield.

No police officers were harmed, the police said.

In August, when Mr. Dimaukom heard his name announced on national television as a drug suspect, he said he was shocked.

“We were really surprised when the president came out to announce it,” he told The Times by email. “Not once were we involved in drugs. In fact, we were fighting drugs. I support the president’s drug war.”

He said he had been wrongly placed on the list of drug suspects because of false accusations spread by his political rivals. He said he was not afraid of an investigation.

“First, our defense is the truth,” he said. “If you are not guilty, why should you be afraid?”

“I am prepared for a lifestyle check, or a drug test or any other investigation that we will be subjected to.”

When President Rodrigo Duterte took office he said in his inaugural speech that the harm of corruption and drugs justified his tough approach, and he dismissed concerns that such a campaign would abuse the rule of law.

“I know the limits of the power and authority of the president,” he said. “I know what is legal and what is not. My adherence to due process and the rule of law is uncompromising.”