Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez is not in hiding, he had nothing to do with the killing of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles, his father, Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr., stressed yesterday.

The National Bureau of Investigation named Mayor Alvarez and six others in a complaint it filed for the murder of Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles before the Department of Justice Friday.

The six others are Emmanuel “Eman” Medez – an alleged aide of the mayor, and Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade members Marvin Salve and Gerald Gallano Tabujara who are at-large, and Jessie Gedacan Daguia, Alejandro Castillo Capunong and Eddie Magno Fotunado who are now under NBI custody in Manila.

Arles was shot dead in Barangay Manalad, Ilog, at about 6:30 p.m. on April 24 while he was driving home.

The vice governor said the charges were politically motivated because the judge’s son, Philip Arles, lost to his daughter Mercedes Alvarez in the congressional race in the sixth district in 2010, and Lawrence Britanico lost his bid for councilor in Ilog town.

The judge’s wife is a Britanico.

The vice governor said his son was not interviewed by the NBI regarding the allegations against him, he should be granted due process, too.

His son will prove his innocence, the vice governor said.

Philip Arles, on the other hand, said the claim that the charges filed against the mayor was politically motivated was petty.

“We lost a father, we would not file charges against people for political reasons,” he said.

They are pursuing the case because they want justice for the death of their father, Philip Arles said.

Albert Arles, a lawyer son of the judge, said in the complaint filed Friday that the motive behind his killing was the suspicion that “Judge Arles together with me were allegedly responsible for helping the late Ilog Councilor Antonio ‘Karem’ Gequillana in following up the Ombudsman case against Mayor John Paul Alvarez.”

The case resulted in the dismissal from office of the mayor’s co-respondents for violation of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices before the Sandiganbayan, he said.

They were accused before the Sandiganbayan of unlawfully repairing and replacing the motor engine of the Mitsubishi Pajero service vehicle of the Ilog DepEd.

MEDIA ADMISSION

Meanwhile, Daguia, Capunong and Fotunado had divulged to the media that they participated in the assassination of Arles in interviews in the evening of July 10, the night before they were flown to Manila.

At the time, the three told their interviewers, including the DAILY STAR, they had sought protective custody from the NBI as they feared for their lives.

The media were granted interviews with them at the NBI office in Bacolod, on condition that the information gathered would only be released after the charges against them had been filed.

The NBI had initially charged them for illegal possession of firearms before the Negros Occidental Prosecutor’s Office.

LAWYER PRESENT

During their interviews at the NBI Bacolod office, the three were accompanied by a private lawyer, who was said to be representing them, but whose name the media were asked to withhold for security purposes.

Daguia alias Dodoy, 40, of Barangay Tampalon, Kabankalan, who admitted to having shot the judge three times with a .45 caliber pistol in the interview, said he was a former member of the New People’s Army in the 1990s, where he had basic training on the use of guns.

However, he left the NPA and went to Manila to work as a security guard and, when he returned to Negros Occidental, joined the RPA-ABB in 2011, he said.

‘LIFE IN DANGER’

Daguia said he believed his life was in danger, so he sought the help of the NBI for security.

Capunong, 27, of Barangay Tabu, Ilog, he drove the tricycle that blocked the vehicle of the judge to allow the assassins to shoot him.

He said it was the first time he had been part of a killing activity, and he later learned that the judge was a good man.

Capunong added that he was at the NBI because he had also sought protection because he was conscience stricken.

Fortunado, 23, of Barangay Tampalon, Kabankalan, said he was a member of the RPA-ABB for less than a year, and was with Salve when the latter met with Mayor Alvarez and he later learned that the judge was to be assassinated.

He said he knew Alvarez from his campaign posters and calendars.

On the night the judge was murdered, he said he was on the tricycle that blocked Arles’ car.

PAY-OFF

Fortunado said he later received P75,000 from Medez, and he surrendered the P39,000 that he still had in his possession to the NBI.*CPG

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