A Manila police chief died after he was ambushed by a group of assailants on Monday morning, leaving other two injured, a local radio reported.

According to radio dzMM, the victim, Manolo Martinez, was proclaimed expired two hours after he was taken to a hospital for gunshot wounds on his heart, chest and back.

The police chief of the Western Police District Station 8, and his driver were fired upon by five unidentified assailants just minutes after entering the parking lot of the police station, the radio said.

However, the driver was not critically wounded and is expected to survive, it added.

The radio also said that the assailants fled by commanding a jeepney and even fired upon at a passing public bus, injuring the bus conductor.

Shortly after the crime, the Philippine National Police condemned the killing and vowed to run after the suspects.

Meanwhile, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, spokesman of the rebel group of the New People's Army (NPA), which has been condemned formany attacks on police, military and civilian targets before, denied involvement in the attack.

Rosal told dzMM that the style used by the assailants was different from the one usually employed by the NPA's assassins.

Earlier this month, Rosal said that the NPA would "launch bigger, more numerous and more frequent tactical offensives on isolated elements of the reactionary armed forces and police everytime the opportunity presents itself."

"The New People's Army pledges to do its utmost to further advance its tactical offensives (TO) and launch bigger and more numerous TOs nationwide," Rosal said.

However, the military said that it is more than capable of preempting any attack by the rebels as evidenced by the "tactical victories" the military scored against the NPA for the past several days.

Source: Xinhua