Baler judge shot dead, wife hurt

BALER, Aurora, Philippines – A gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed yesterday afternoon the judge who last year acquitted a New People’s Army (NPA) commander accused of killing two soldiers 15 years ago.

His wife sustained a bullet wound in the left arm and is under observation in a hospital.

Police said 45-year-old Judge Jude Erwin Alaba of Baler Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 91 was shot in the chest.

He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Alaba and his wife Margarita had just arrived at the RTC compound in their Mitsubishi Montero at around 2 p.m. when the gunman appeared and repeatedly fired at them with a caliber .45 pistol, according to Aurora police director Sr. Supt. Danny Tolentino.

The security guard was motioning to Alaba, who was at the wheel, to back off to park when the shooting started.

The gunman sped away on a motorcycle after emptying his pistol at Alaba, Tolentino said.

Police are still looking into the possible motive behind the attack, he added.

Based on the investigation of Baler police under Chief Insp. Jun dela Cruz, it was gathered that Alaba has made several convictions that might have angered some people. – With Edu Punay