Vice governor's mayor-son tagged in Negros judge's slay

Bacolod City, Philippines – A mayor-son of Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr. is facing murder charges after he was tagged as the alleged mastermind in the killing of Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles last April.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed murder charges against Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez and nine other suspects before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila on Friday, lawyer Frank Britanico told The STAR. 

Britanico, brother-in-law of Arles, said the suspects in the killing implicated the mayor as the alleged mastermind. 

NBI-Bacolod head Ferdinand Lavin said the murder complaint was filed before DOJ Prosecutor General Claro Arellano by Arles’ sons Albert, a lawyer, and Philip. 

In the complaint, Albert said, “The killing of my father was well planned and was performed by hired killers.” 

Vice Gov. Alvarez, in media reports yesterday, said he was not aware that a case has been filed against his son, who he said is innocent.

He said they would consult a lawyer and face the matter in court. Mayor Alvarez is also the brother of Negros Occidental sixth district Rep. Mercedes Alvarez. 

Also charged in Arles’ killing are Jessie Daguia, Alejandro Capunong, Eddie Fortunado, Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara, Emmanuel Medez, a Jane Doe, a John Doe, and another suspect still to be identified in the course of the investigation, Britanico said. 

Daguia, Fortunado, and Capunong, who are all members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), are in the custody of the NBI central office in Manila, Lavin said. 

Lavin said the three sought protective custody as they feared for their lives. He said NBI agents arrested the three last June 23 and 27 in Bacolod for illegal possession of firearms, but they were investigated for Arles’ slay, too. 

Salve and Tabujara are also RPA-ABB members, Britanico said.

Motive

Albert alleged that his father was killed because Mayor Alvarez suspected that he and his father were responsible for helping the late Ilog councilor Antonio Gequillana in following up the case against the mayor before the Office of the Ombudsman, “which resulted in the dismissal from office of his co-respondents for (violation of the) Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices before the Sandiganbayan.”

Britanico said the cases against Alvarez before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan were both filed by Gequillana, 40, who was gunned down in front of a hotel in Bacolod in July 2011. 

The Arles family alleged in their complaint that it was Mayor Alvarez who also ordered Gequillana’s killing.

Arles, presiding judge of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Branch 61, succumbed to three bullet wounds. He was shot with a .45-caliber pistol by men who fled onboard a tricycle in Ilog town last April 24. 

Britanico quoted Salve, vice commander of RPA-ABB in the sixth district of Negros Occidental, as saying that Mayor Alvarez met him in his abandoned fishpond in late March and allegedly ordered him to kill Arles.

Salve planned the hit job, he said. The suspects used a tricycle and a motorcycle in trailing Arles, he added.

On the tricycle driven by Capunong were Fortunado and Salve, while Tabujara and Daguia were on the motorcycle, he said. 

Daguia fired the first three shots that instantly killed the judge, although Tabujara also fired shots, Britanico said.

Medez, an administrative aide of the Ilog municipal government, was the one who allegedly checked at the hospital if Arles was really dead and gave the P75,000 balance to Salve, he said. 

Britanico said the DOJ will determine if there is probable cause in the murder case, and if there is, will file a case against the respondents in court which, in turn, will issue the arrest warrant.

In the earlier stages of the investigation, Lavin said they were investigating the possible involvement of an influential family in southern Negros Occidental in Arles’ killing. Ilog town is located in that area. 

Denial

Alvarez’s family was linked to the slay, but Vice Gov. Alvarez denied this, saying they had no pending case in Arles’ sala, and that they had no reason to have him killed.

The elder Alvarez said the allegations could have surfaced after speculations spread that he was running for governor in 2013.  

The NBI is conducting a parallel investigation with the Task Group Arles, which was created by the Negros Occidental police.

Britanico said the Arles family welcomes the filing of charges against Alvarez and his cohorts. A P1.2-million reward was earlier offered for the arrest of the suspects.