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UK baron's daughter killed in Duterte's war on drugs

Maria Aurora Moynihan, 45, was shot by unknown attackers who left her by the side of a Manila street.

Manila: A daughter of the late British baron Lord Moynihan has been killed in the Philippines where the government is waging a deadly war on drugs, police said on Monday.

Maria Aurora Moynihan, 45, was shot by unknown attackers who left her by the side of a Manila street on September 10, authorities said.

Her killers left a cardboard sign accusing Moynihan of being a “drug pusher for celebrities”, Chief Inspector Tito Jay Cuden said. The victim was on bail while facing charges of possession of illegal drugs following a February 2013 suburban Manila police raid. “Witnesses told us they heard a series of gunshots, then saw a vehicle leaving the area. They did not see its licence plates,” Cuden said.

CCTV footage aired on local television network ABS-CBN showed a vehicle stop and open its door on the deserted part of the street where the body was later found.

“She’s considered a drug personality,” Cuden said. No arrests have been made and an investigation is continuing, he added.

A sister, film actress Maritoni Fernandez, issued a brief statement last week expressing the family's “deep shock” over the killing and pleading for privacy to mourn the death.

Meanwhile, President Duterte asked for a six-month extension for his war on drugs, saying there are too many people involved in the narcotics trade and he “cannot kill them all”.

( Source : AFP )
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