Family of slain judge hails transfer of case to Manila

BACOLOD CITY—The family of slain Judge Henry Arles Monday welcomed the Supreme Court order transferring the hearing of the case against the suspects in his murder from the Kabankalan Regional Trial Court (RTC) to Quezon City, saying it would help even the playing field.

Philip Arles, son of the Kabankalan RTC judge who was killed in an ambush in Barangay (village) Manalad, Ilog town, on April 24, 2012, said Monday that they received the high court’s resolution dated June 9 on Friday.

The transfer of the case would make it more difficult for witnesses in the murder case to be threatened, he said.

“We believe that the transfer of venue will be favorable both to the complainants and the accused. We will have a more even playing field in Metro Manila than in Negros Occidental. There will be less pressure on the witnesses, on the prosecutors and on the judges,” said lawyer Frank Britanico, brother-in-law of the slain judge.

Ma. Estelita “Ria” Arles, daughter of the judge, also said the transfer would mean that their witnesses would be safer and were less likely to be intimidated.

The high court said it ordered the transfer of the case based on a petition filed by Philip Arles on June 2, 2013, requesting the change of venue of Criminal Case 2013-5986 to Metro Manila, as three of the accused, who had admitted that they were members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-AB) Band, implicated former Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, former Negros Occidental Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez and Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara as the masterminds behind the killing.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) last year dismissed the complaints for murder against the Alvarezes and Tabujara. Philip Arles said his family filed a motion for reconsideration but lamented that until now, the DOJ has not acted on it.

Philip Arles, in his petition for transfer of the case, said considering that “influential political personalities have been implicated in the case, [there is a] possibility that undue influence  may be employed upon persons officially  tasked by the law to prosecute or hear the case, including the prosecution witnesses.”

Arles said that of the seven accused, only three are detained—Jessie Daguia, Alejandro Capunong and Eddie Fortunado of RPA-ABB.

He complained that four of the accused—Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara and Rustom Puro—who are also members of RPA-ABB, as well as Ilog municipal government employee Emmanuel Medes, were still at large.