SC moves Negros judge slay trial to QC

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has transferred the trial of the murder case of Negros Occidental judge Henry Arles to Quezon City.

In a resolution dated June 9, deputy division clerk of court Teresita Aquino Tuazon granted the petition of Arles’ son, Philip, and directed the clerk of court of the Kabankalan City Regional Trial Court Branch 61 to forward the entire records of the criminal case to the office of the Quezon City RTC’s clerk of court.

The elder Arles was the presiding judge of the Kabankalan RTC Branch 61 at the time he was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men on his way home in Ilog town on April 24, 2012.

Lawyer Frank Britanico, spokesman of the Arles family, said the transfer of the trial venue “would tend to lessen the intimidation and pressure that the witnesses experienced.”

On Nov. 19, 2012, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the murder complaint filed   by Arles’ children against former Negros Occidental vice governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. and his son, former Ilog mayor and now Vice Mayor John Paul, and Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara, the alleged masterminds, due to insufficient evidence.

However, the DOJ recommended the filing of charges against seven other respondents, including six members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.

Indicted were RPA-ABB members Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara, Jessie Daguia, Eddie Fortunado, Alejandro Capunong, and Rustom Puro; and Emanuel Medes, a casual employee of the Ilog municipal government.

The Arles family has a pending motion for reconsideration before the DOJ on the dismissal of charges against the Alvarezes and Tabujara.