7 charged for slay of Negros judge

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  â€“ The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed last Monday murder charges against seven suspects in last year’s killing of Kabankalan City judge Henry Arles, according to his lawyer-daughter.

Of the seven accused, six are members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), while the seventh was an administrative aide of the Ilog municipal government, said lawyer Ma. Estelita Arles, who now acts as the family’s lead counsel and spokesperson.

Charged with murder before the Kabankalan regional trial court were RPA-ABB members Jessie Daguia, Alejandro Capunong, Eddie Fortunado, Rustom Puro, Marvin Salve, and Gerald Tabujara, and Ilog municipal employee Emman Medes.

All the suspects are at large. Daguia, Capunong, and Fortunado were earlier arrested and put under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila, but the Bacolod City court allowed them to be released on bail.

Arles, who received several awards from the Supreme Court as an outstanding judge, was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men while on his way home in Barangay Manalad in Ilog town on April 24 last year.

The Arles family and the NBI filed murder complaints against 10 suspects in July last year.

But last month, the DOJ cleared three of the 10 respondents, namely Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, his father Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez, and Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara, for “insufficiency of evidence.”

The DOJ though upheld the filing of murder charges against the seven other respondents.

The DOJ resolution was penned on Nov. 19, 2012, but it was released only last May 6, or more than five months later.

The Arles family earlier had filed a motion for partial reconsideration of the DOJ ruling clearing the Alvarezes and Tabujara, arguing that the same set of evidence and witnesses was presented against them. Ma. Estelita said the motion is still pending before the DOJ.

Ma. Estelita said she is hoping that the DOJ resolution would expedite the arrest of the seven suspects by the police and NBI.