NBI probing clans in judge's slay

CEBU, Philippines - The NBI-Bacolod City is now investigating the possible link of clans or big families in the 6th district of Negros Occidental to the murder of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles who was gunned down last April 24. NBI-Bacolod chief Ferdinand Lavin the other day said that, based on the various court cases handled by Arles, it is possible that the mastermind behind the crime were members of big families in the 6th district.

The 6th district is composed of the cities of Kabankalan and Sipalay, and the towns of Ilog, Candoni, Cauayan, and Hinoba-an—all in southernmost part of Negros Occidental. “We want to be able to identify or pinpoint sino itong (who is this) clan behind the murder,” Lavin said.

“We’re trying to tie up the shooters, who were on the ground or the hitman, with the mastermind,” said Lavin, adding that the man and the woman, who were seen inside the Kabankalan RTC building on the day Arles was killed, and whose artist’s sketches were released to the media, were just “spotters or lookouts.”

Lavin said the two spotters just made sure the judge went out of the building, drove his car, and was driving alone. There was another group who boarded a tricycle that tailed the judge’s car on his way home to Ilog town, he said.

The hitman was a professional shooter. “Perfect hit, only three shots fired, despite (that it happened at) 6:45 p.m., a little dark, at tinted ang sasakyan ng judge (and the judge’s car was tinted),” he said.

The 62-year-old Arles succumbed to three gunshot wounds, from a .45 caliber pistol fired by the gunman who fled using a tricycle. “We’re not closing our doors to (the possibility that there were) eight to 10 suspects,” said Lavin as he surmised the group was probably operating locally, or in Negros Occidental only.

Lavin said they are still finding the hitman, who could lead them to identifying the mastermind behind the crime.

The NBI ongoing investigation is parallel to that of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, which has created Task Group Arles, consisting of the Ilog and Kabankalan City Police stations, Investigation Operations and Intelligence Branches of NOPPO, PNP Crime Laboratory, CIDG, PNP Legal Service, and PNP Public Safety Company.

Lavin said NBI has been meeting regularly with the task group and the victim’s family to give each other an update of the case. The family did not give a timetable to solve the case, and he said: “We’re very happy that they trust our law enforcement agencies.”

The Arles family is giving P1-million cash reward to informants who could give any vital information leading to the arrest of the killers and the mastermind behind the crime, lawyer Maria Estelita Arles, the judge’s youngest child, said earlier.

This was on top of the P200,000 that the Philippine Judges Foundation was offering for the arrest of the suspects, as announced by Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez.

Arles had served the Kabankalan RTC for 13 years, and received various awards for his speedy disposition of cases, among them the Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Award given by the Supreme Court in 2008. (FREEMAN)