The attack wounded five other people and caused panic among travelers caught up in the chaos.
Gun crime and political
violence occur with grim frequency in the Philippines. But the shooting
Friday at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport appeared
particularly brazen.
The dead include Ukol
Talumpa, the mayor of Labangan, a town in the southern Philippines, and
his wife, said Jose Angel Honrado, the general manager of Manila
International Airport Authority. The identities of the two other people
killed haven't been confirmed, he said.
The Philippine National
Police is investigating the shooting for which there are believed to be
two suspects, Honrado said. Police officials didn't immediately respond
to CNN requests for comment.
Authorities said the
shooting took place around 11:20 a.m. at the terminal's loading bay, an
area outside the airport's security screening of passengers.
Honrado said flights
haven't been disrupted and the airport is operating as normal, except
for the specific area where the shooting happened.
The people wounded in the attack have been taken to a medical center for treatment, he said.
The official Philippines
News Agency reported that Talumpa had previously survived an
assassination attempt in Manila in 2010 and a grenade attack in 2012 in
Zamboanga del Sur, the province where Labangan is situated on the
southern island of Mindanao.
The Philippines is plagued by political violence. Some political clans control private armies.
The deadliest outbreak
of politically motivated violence in recent history took place in 2009
in Maguindanao province on Mindanao. The wife and sister of a political
candidate and 30 journalists were among the dozens of victims who were
shot and buried in a mass grave.
Philippines authorities
say there were more than 1.2 million registered firearms in the country
last year and estimate there were another 600,000 unlicensed firearms in
circulation nationwide.
The Philippines is currently estimated to have a population of about 106 million people.