Bacolod City, Philippines – The spokesman of the family of slain Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles has slammed Ilog town Mayor John Paul Alvarez and his father, Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr., for issuing “malicious” statements in defense of the mayor, who was tagged as the alleged mastermind in the crime.
“Their statements are very unfair, grossly shameful, and malicious,” lawyer Frank Britanico told The STAR Monday night.
In media interviews the previous day, Mayor Alvarez denied his hand in Arles’ killing last April 24.
Arles, presiding judge of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Branch 61, died from three bullet wounds after he was shot with .45-caliber pistols by men onboard a tricycle in Ilog town.
The mayor described charges against him as politically motivated, a statement supported by the elder Alvarez.
Vice Gov. Alvarez alleged that the case against his son is politically motivated because Arles’ son Philip lost to his daughter, Mercedes Alvarez, in the sixth district congressional race in 2010.
But Britanico said, “Are they implying that the children of Judge Arles, two of whom are lawyers, are so petty that they would accuse Mayor Alvarez in the murder of their father just to get back at them for losing in politics?”
“They lost a father. The statement of the Alvarez family is very unfair, malicious, grossly shameful, and malicious,” said Britanico, brother-in-law of the slain judge
Last Friday, the National Bureau of Investigation filed murder charges against Mayor Alvarez and nine others before the Department of Justice in Manila in connection with Arles’ killing.