BACOLOD CITY—A Regional Trial Court judge was ambushed and killed by a lone gunman while driving home past 6 p.m. Tuesday in Ilog town, Negros Occidental.
Police, however, have yet to determine the motive in the killing of Judge Henry Arles of RTC in Kabankalan City although they didn’t discount the possibility that it was work-related.
Arles’ family and friends in the judiciary said the judge had not mentioned any threat to his life and had no known enemies.
Arles, 62, came from work in Kabankalan and was driving home to Barangay Dancalan, Ilog, past 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
A tricycle drove alongside the judge’s Nissan Sentra when it reached the highway in Barangay Manalag in Ilog, said Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, Negros Occidental police director.
A passenger of the tricycle fired thrice at the judge, using a .45-cal. pistol, said Senior Insp. Joshua Villasis, Ilog police chief. The tricycle sped off after the attack.
Arles suffered gunshot wounds in different parts of the body and was taken to Southern Negros Hospital in Kabankalan by bystanders. He was declared dead on arrival there.
Guisihan said he had created Task Group Judge Arles headed by Supt. Leo Agpangan to identify and arrest the gunman and his companion.
Villasis, however, said police had no leads yet on the identity of the gunman and his companion as well as the motive in the killing.
He said witnesses had difficulty identifying the gunman and the driver of the tricycle because it was getting dark at that time.
The victim’s daughter, Ma. Estelita Arles, said her father visited her in Manila last week but he didn’t talk about having any threat to his life.
Estelita, a Manila-based lawyer, said she had asked her father to stay with her until her birthday on April 26 but the judge refused because he had to return to work and had several hearings to preside over.
“He said people spend time and money to get to the courts for the hearings and it was not fair for them to end up with their cases being postponed because the judge was absent,” she said.
She said she did not know why anyone would want to kill a man like her father, whom she described as hardworking, devoted to the judiciary and just in his decisions.
“My father was a man of integrity who was just and fair, with no known enemies. His death came as a shock to all of us,” said Estelita.
Judge Edgar Garvilles, of Bacolod RTC, also expressed shock after learning about the assassination of Arles, saying the slain judge was a friendly man who had no enemies.
Judge Ray Alan Drilon, also of the Bacolod RTC, said Arles’ death was a loss to the judiciary. “He was a good and responsible family man and loving to his children,” said Drilon.
The human rights group Karapatan in Negros condemned the killing of Arles.
“It shows that impunity still exists under [President Aquino’s administration],” the group said. “It is a great loss to the judiciary in Negros as Judge Arles is an example of fairness in upholding the rule of law. We call for an immediate investigation,” Karapatan said in a statement.