Task Group Arles yesterday released the facial sketches of the three gunmen involved in the killing of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles in Ilog, Negros Occidental, and said it  hopes to unmask them soon.

The three were directly involved in the shooting of Judge Arles, based on the accounts of witnesses, who had seen them at the vicinity of the Kabankalan RTC, with two look-outs, one a woman, before  theshooting incident, Chief Inspector Rico Santotome, Task Force Arles spokesman, yesterday.

Numerous witnesses in the killing of Arles have come out to help in speed up the  resolution of the case to which  an influential clan in southern Negros,  has been linked as claimed by the National Bureau of Investigations.

Maria Estelita Arles, daughter of slain judge, said their family is inclined to believe thata big and influential clan is behind the ambush-slay of her father, but could not elaborate further.

The NBI is pursuing its own theory, but  Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, said they are focusing on the motive,  and the suspects  in  the assassination,  in order to unmask the mastermind.

Guisihan said they have accomplished 30 percent of their investigations so far, 45 days after Judge Arles, 62, was gunned down by three suspects in Brgy. Manalad, Ilog on April 24.

The Arles  family  is offering  a P1 million reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspects, on top of the P200,000being offered by the Philippine Judges Association.

NBI investigations show that the five suspects involved in the killing of Arles allegedly are ” guns-for-hire”. GPB

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