Negros Occidental Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. and Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara have been implicated in the murder of Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles, in an affidavit filed by a new witness before the Department of Justice yesterday morning.

A copy of the affidavit was furnished the DAILY STAR by lawyer Frank Britanico, brother-in-law of Arles. He, however, said that until the 35-year-old daycare worker is enrolled in the witness protection program, they will hide her identity under the codename “Honeybee”.

Honeybee also held a press conference Tuesday in Bacolod City but her statements were embargoed until her affidavit could be filed with the DOJ and she could be brought to a secure place.

A complaint earlier filed by the National Bureau of Investigation with the DOJ had tagged the vice governor’s son, Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, his aide, Emmanuel Medez, and five members of the breakaway Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade – Jessie Daguia, Alejandro Capunong and Eddie Fortunado – who are under NBI custody in Manila, and Marvin Salve and Gerald Tabujara who are at large.

Honeybee said Rustom Puro, a ranking member of the RPA-ABB and the husband of her cousin, told her that he and Salve were contracted by the group of Mayor Alvarez, Vice Governor Alvarez and Vice Mayor Tabujara to assassinate Arles.

It was she, on instructions of Puro, who picked up the P500,000 final payment for the P1 million hit job from the mayor, who personally handed the money to her, Honeybee also claimed.

                                           ‘NOT TRUE’

The vice governor and Tabujara vehemently denied the claims of Honeybee. Earlier, Mayor Alvarez had also denied having any part in the murder of the judge.

The vice governor called the claims of Honeybee a “diversionary tactic” after the three RPA-ABB members in the custody of the NBI recanted their admissions that they took part in the murder of Arles. Fortunado, on Wednesday, also told a Bacolod Regional Trial Court that he was tortured into admitting involvement in the crime, which Britanico and the NBI, in turn, said was a lie.

“The claims of Honeybee are a mere fairytale, it seems they are falsely implicating everybody at will. Who knows who will be next,” the vice governor said.

Tabujara said implicating him is ridiculous, Judge Arles was his friend whom he admired for giving fair decisions.

The vice mayor said he has a clean record and having someone killed is something he would never do.

“I was surprised to be implicated, maybe this is politically-motivated,” Tabujara said.

                                           THREATENED

In the press conference, Honeybee said she decided to surface and seek protection because she was getting threats on her life from the RPA-ABB men involved in the crime. They probably suspect that she was the one who informed the authorities about their involvement, she said.

                                  DELAYED PAYMENT

Puro is from Barangay Talacdan, Cauayan, where she is also from, Honeybee said in her affidavit.

Daguia is her cousin, she said, and she also knows Capunong and Fortunado who are RPA-ABB members under Puro, she added.

On June 7, she returned to Talacdan to bring money to her family and she saw Puro, Daguia and Capunong at a wedding where they were drinking Tanduay, she said.

Honeybee said she heard Puro telling Daguia and Capunong that they still had not been paid when their job had long been completed – “Dunot na tu unod ni Arles, wala pa ta giyapon ginbayari (The body of Arles is already rotting, we have not been paid yet)”.

                                           COLLECTOR

“The problem with those in government is when you have something to collect, you have to go to their office,” she further quoted Puro as saying.

Honeybee said she asked how she could help, and Puro told her he needed her to collect the money Mayor Alvarez owed his group for killing Arles.

When she asked for more details, Puro told her that he and Marvin had been hired by the group of the mayor, vice governor and Tabujara, she claimed.

Puro also told her that Daguia, Capunong, Fortunado, Salve and Gerard Tabujara were part of the team that carried out the job. It was at the house of Puro where the operation was planned and Salve was made the team leader, she added.

Puro told her he would give her P5,000 to collect the balance of the payoff because his share was P150,000, Honeybee added.

                                           ‘MAYOR DELIVERED’

On June 8, she was picked up at Gaisano City in Kabankalan by Medez, who drove her to a place at crossing Bontalinao, Ilog, she said. Medez then sent a text message and, after 10 minutes, a blue Fortuner with red plates, whose driver turned out to be Mayor Alvarez, arrived, Honeybee claimed.

The mayor handed her a brown envelop and told her “That is P500,000, are you going to count it? I have no more obligation to you, tell Rustom I’m fully paid for Arles. You could not even wait,” she said.

Medez then brought her to the Ceres terminal and she went to Talacdan to deliver the money to the house of Puro, who was waiting with Daguia, Capunong, Fortunado, Salve and Tabujara, she added.*CPG

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