Judge's killers may be hired guns

Bacolod City, Philippines  – The ambush-slay of Kabankalan City Judge Henry Arles last Tuesday was most probably job-related, and the killers may be hired guns, initial investigation of the police Task Group Arles showed. 

This, as investigators noted that 62-year-old Arles, who was gunned down in Ilog town, Negros Occidental while on his way home, had no known personal enemies who might have wanted him dead, said Senior Superintendent Allan Guisihan, Negros Occidental provincial police director. 

Guisihan believes that the arrest of a man and a woman who, according to a witness, were seen in the vicinity of the Kabankalan Regional Trial Court (RTC) building hours before Arles was killed, would lead to the arrest of the judge’s killers.

Guisihan said the two could possibly have acted as lookouts of the gunmen. Task Group Arles has released the artist’s sketches of the two who reportedly conducted surveillance on Arles hours before he was waylaid.

Arles succumbed to three gunshot wounds from a .45 caliber pistol.

Guisihan said he has formed two investigating teams: one hunting down the two lookouts, and the other scrutinizing court records and the controversial cases that Arles had resolved.

The National Bureau of Investigation has also joined Task Force Arles to speed up the resolution of the case, he said.

Lawyer Ma. Estelita Arles, the judge’s daughter, told a police case conference on Thursday that their family was putting up a cash reward for the arrest of those involved in the killing, although she did not specify any amount.

Arles had received various awards for his speedy disposition of cases as Kabankalan RTC judge for 13 years.