Judge's slay suspects accuse NBI of torture

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Three suspects in the murder of Kabankalan City RTC Judge Henry Arles have complained they were arrested without warrants by the NBI, brought to Manila and were allegedly tortured to admit to the crime.

This was revealed by the niece of Jessie Daguia, one of the suspects along with Eddie Fortunado and Vincent Capunong, who also told The Freeman that the three were members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), which she said has been helping authorities in catching the “real” criminals.

The niece, who requested anonymity, alleged that her uncle and the two other suspects were being tortured by NBI officers in connection with the Arles case.

She said her family went to the Commission on Human Rights in Bacolod yesterday to file charges against the NBI, and she was told by CHR case investigator Vincent Parra that the commission will accompany them in going to NBI-Manila to verify her complaints.

The niece claimed the three were “abducted” by the NBI last June 23 in Kabankalan, and were brought to Manila. She said it was only last Sunday that she and her family were able to talk to Daguia using the mobile phone of one of his companions in the detention cell, and learned what happened.

However, lawyer Frank Britanico, brother-in-law of Judge Arles and designated spokesperson on this particular update, told The Freeman Monday night, that they doubted the alleged “abduction” of the three. “It’s a lie,” he said, adding that the accusations of the suspects were unfair to the NBI.

“It’s nothing but money” that could be the motive of the suspects in coming out with this version, since the niece admitted they were members of RPA-ABB, he said.

Britanico said the Arles family believes in the “regularity of actions” of NBI, which he said has been observing legal procedures in solving the case. “We will vouch that all procedures of NBI (in the Arles case) has been done in a legal manner,” he said.

In almost three months of investigation of the Arles case, “no witnesses, nobody has been arrested, abducted or held in custody” by the NBI, he said, and that the Arles family has been holding regular meetings with the NBI and other agencies helping with the case, and they are being updated almost every day.

“The NBI has not told us that there were suspects arrested in Kabankalan, much less brought to Manila,” Britanico said, adding that Daguia, Fortunado, and Capunong are in their list of suspects, which so far numbered nine along with one mastermind.

Earlier this month, NBI-Bacolod head Ferdinand Lavin said they expected to solve the Arles case in less than a month, because they have promising leads. He said they were working on completing the identification of a number of players in the killing of the judge.

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

The 62-year-old Arles died when he was shot thrice with a .45 caliber pistol by a gunman who fled using a tricycle, in Ilog town last April 24.

The cash reward for the arrest of the suspects has reached P1.2 million, the P1 million of which was offered by the Arles family to informants who could give any vital information leading to the arrest of the killers and the mastermind behind the crime. The Philippine Judges Foundation is also offering P200,000 cash reward. - THE FREEMAN