Slain judge’s kin seek review of DOJ dismissal of charges vs pols
BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental — The children of slain Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles on Tuesday filed a motion for reconsideration with the Department of Justice, seeking a reversal of its dismissal of a murder complaint against Negros Occidental Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr., his son, Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, and Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara.
The motion for reconsideration was filed by Albert and Philip Arles, with their sister, Maria Estelita Arles, acting as counsel.
The Alvarezes and Tabujara have maintained innocence in the murder of the judge in the town of Ilog in April last year.
The vice governor on Tuesday said he had no idea about the motion for reconsideration, while Tabujara noted that the DOJ had already cleared them of the charges.
Their lawyer, Dan Pondeverda, said he did not believe the motion for reconsideration would lead to a reversal of the DOJ’s dismissal of the complaint against his clients, which he said the justice department had thoroughly tackled.
In a resolution dated Nov. 19, 2012 but released only a week before the May 13 mid-term elections, the DOJ dismissed the charges filed against the Alvarezes and Tabujara for “insufficiency of evidence,” without prejudice to the re-filing of the murder charges should new evidence against the respondents surface.
The same resolution recommended the filing of murder charges against a number of alleged members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade, namely, Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara, Rustom Puro, Alejandro Capunong, Jessie Daguia and Eddie Fortunado, and Ilog government employee Emmanuel Medes.
The Arleses, in their motion for reconsideration, said there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence pointing to Mayor Alvarez as the mastermind, or principal by inducement, in the murder of Judge Arles.
“Direct evidence of the crime is not the only matrix wherefrom a trial court may draw its conclusion and finding of guilt. The rules of evidence allow a trial court to rely on circumstantial evidence to support its conclusion of guilt,” the motion said, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Salvador vs. People of the Philippines.
“At times, resort(ing) to circumstantial evidence is imperative since, to insist on direct testimony would, in many cases, result in setting felons free and deny proper protection,” it further quoted.
According to the motion for reconsideration, there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence in the case of Mayor Alvarez that could lead to the “inescapable conclusion that there exists probable cause that he orchestrated and induced the conspiracy to murder Judge Arles.”
The mayor had the motive to cause the murder because he had identified Judge Arles as having facilitated a case against him in the Sandiganbayan, the motion said. It was also pointed out that the mayor was seen by respondent Fortunado allegedly giving instructions to Salve on how to carry out the murder, while Capunong overheard a phone conversation between Puro and Salve in which the former mentioned that Alvarez was in a hurry to get the job done.
The motion for reconsideration also cited witness Rolyn Baylon’s testimony that Puro told her the “hit” they carried out on the judge was contracted by the mayor, the vice governor and Tabujara.
The participation of the vice governor and Tabujara as principals by inducement was sufficiently established by the testimony of Baylon, the Arles siblings said in their motion.
The motion said that while the two had said in their counter-affidavits that the claims of Baylon were fabricated, they failed to establish sufficient reason to discredit her testimony.
