Mayor tagged in murder of judge

BACOLOD CITY—A municipal mayor, a government employee and five communist rebels were charged for the murder in April of a Regional Trial Court judge in Ilog town, Negros Occidental.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed the murder complaint against Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez and six others about 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Department of Justice in Manila.

The Inquirer tried to contact Alvarez, son of Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez and brother of Rep. Mercedes Alvarez of the province’s 6th district, but he could not be reached for comment.

His father, however, maintained that his son had nothing to do with the killing of Judge Henry Arles of RTC Branch in Kabankalan City.

“We are not aware that a case has been filed. My son is innocent. We will consult and face the matter in court,” said the vice governor.

Also included in the complaint were Ilog administrative aide Emmanuel Mendez as well as five members of the breakaway Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade —Marvin Salve, Gerald Gallano, Jessie Gedacan Daguia, Alejandro Castillo Capunong and Eddie Magno Fotunado.

Lawyer Frank Britanico, brother-in-law of the judge, said Mendez was a close friend and personal aide of the mayor.

Salve and Gallano remained at large while the three others were under the NBI custody in Manila following their arrest last month for illegal posession of firearms.

The six respondents were accused of taking part in the murder of Arles who was assassinated while heading home in Ilog on April 24.

Lawyer Albert Arles and his brother Philip Arles, both sons of the slain judge, acted as complainants, said Bacolod NBI chief Ferdinand Lavin.

In the complaint, Albert claimed that his father was killed because he had helped the late Councilor Antonio Gequillana in following up the graft case the latter filed against Mayor Alvarez in the Office of the Ombudsman.

He claimed that the mayor hired the RPA-ABB members to kill his father. Fortunado allegedly received P75,000 from Mendez for the hit. The RPA-ABB member surrendered P39,000 to the NBI after he was arrested in a Bacolod bus terminal on June 23 for carrying an unlicensed gun.

Alvarez and seven other Ilog officials were charged with graft for unlawfully repairing and replacing the motor engine of a Mitsubishi Pajero.