Ex-Malabon mayor’s son gunned down

MANILA, Philippines — A former Malabon mayor’s son, known for a string of criminal cases, was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman at a cockpit before dawn yesterday.

Ariel Vicencio, son of former mayor Amado “Boy” Vicencio, was shot dead by a masked gunman at the parking lot of the Del Monte Cockpit Arena in Barangay Potrero around 3 a.m. yesterday.

An assailant wearing a helmet and bonnet walked up to the victim, who was then walking out of the cockpit with his friends, and shot him in the head. The gunman then escaped by boarding a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. 

Two of Vicencio’s companions – Jomel dela Cruz and Rolando Torres – were also wounded in the incident.

Police recovered two fired cartridge cases of a .40 caliber firearm.

Vicencio was on the drug watchlist, police said. 

He was linked to the kidnapping of the family of a cockpit manager in San Juan in December 2012. He was among the six men arrested for barging in and ransacking the house of Loel Hayno and demanding P1 million for his family’s release.

Vicencio was also charged for illegal possession of firearms in Caloocan, according to Police Officer 3 Julius Mabasa.

Vicencio was also accused of beating up Chief Inspector Ricardo Tidelino in front of a disco bar in Caloocan in 2002.