LIPA CITY – The president of the Association of Barangay Captains here was gunned down in a cockpit arena Friday.
Batangas police director Senior Supt. Edwin Quilates identified the victim as Marlon Luancing, 62, barangay captain of Barangay Antipolo del Sur.
Quilates said the victim was shot several times in the stairs of the Lipa Games and Amusement Complex in Barangay Balintawak by a lone gunman at around 8 p.m.
He said a responding policeman, PO3 Ronald Villegas, 46, was shot several times by the fleeing gunman, prompting him to return fire and wounded the suspect. Villegas was taken to a hospital and now in stable condition.
Also wounded in the shooting were Keempee de Leon, 21, and Carmelo Malabanan, 56, both cockpit arena employees, and Edmundo Benero, 55, fighting cock raiser. They were taken to a hospital.
Quilates said the Lipa police immediately informed police stations in Region 4-A to apprehend the wounded gunman and at around 1:30 a.m. yesterday, a report was received that a man with bullet wound was taken to a hospital in Silang, Cavite.
Police arrived in the hospital and found the gunman about to be taken out by his father.
“Nung pumunta ang mga pulis dun, ilalabas na sana nung tatay yung anak niya, sabi nila na-involved daw sila sa isang hold-up incident sa Carmona, Cavite pero nung vinerify namin, wala namang ganung incident,” Quilates said.
He added the father was seen in the cockpit arena’s closed circuit television camera as a look out and was positively identified by a witness.
The gunman was taken to another hospital for security reasons and now under the custody of the police along with his father.
Luancing is a close supporter of Lipa City Mayor Meynard Sabili and his daughter is running for councilor in the May 2019 elections under the lineup of Sabili’s wife.
He was the second supporter of Mayor Sabili to be killed in less than a month. The first was Barangay Chairman Napoleon Laguerta Sambayan of Barangay Anilao Proper who was also gunned down while driving his car in this city. (Lyka Manalo)