Cops secure witnesses in Aurora judge’s slay
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Police in Aurora province have secured several witnesses in the slaying of a regional trial court (RTC) judge in the capital town of Baler on Tuesday.
The witnesses provided statements as a special investigation task group consisting of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the provincial and municipal police offices held on Wednesday its first case conference into the killing of Judge Jude Erwin Alaba, 45, Senior Supt. Danilo Florentino, Aurora police director, told the INQUIRER by telephone.
Florentino, however, did not provide details on the witnesses’ background and their testimonies to protect them.
He said the lone gunman stood in front of Alaba’s Mitsubishi Montero and fired successive shots shortly after the judge parked his vehicle in front of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) in Barangay Suklayin at 2 p.m. Alaba was with his wife, Margarita, in the vehicle.
The assassin fled on a motorcycle.
Investigators found a handgun in Alaba’s vehicle but the judge was not able to return fire, Florentino said.
Alaba took in seven bullets — four in the left arm and three in the body — apparently to shield his wife, who was hit in the hand, Florentino said.
Alaba died before reaching the Premiere Hospital, also in Baler.
His wife and child had been secured by the police. Private security personnel had secured the court compound in Baler as courtrooms and offices there resumed normal operations on Wednesday, police said.
Florentino said investigators were checking Alaba’s case load and previous cases to determine if the killing was a form of revenge or vendetta.
Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, Central Luzon police director and former CIDG chief in the region, said Alaba was the first judge in Central Luzon to be murdered in the last five years. Tonette Orejas
