Judge Arles slay suspect freed on bail

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — One of the suspects in the killing of Kabankalan RTC Judge Henry Arles was released from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Bacolod Tuesday after posting bail of P80,000, the NBI yesterday said.

Alejandro Capunong, 28, who was arrested by NBI agents last June for illegal possession of firearms, is one of the 10 suspects in the murder of Arles, who was gunned down while on his way home to Ilog town in Negros Occidental last April 24.

“It’s a sad day for all the victims of injustices and unjustified killings. It’s a bad day not just for the Arles family, but for all victims similarly situated,” lawyer Frank Britanico, spokesman for the Arles family and brother-in-law of the slain judge, told The Freeman yesterday.

“It’s also a sad day for law enforcers who spend time and effort and risk their lives to solve crimes only to find out that eventually the offenders would go scot-free,” Britanico said.

Capunong, along with Jessie Daguia and Eddie Fortunado, who were also arrested last June for illegal possession of firearms, and are members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army—Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), were detained at NBI Manila after they sought protective custody in writing, NBI Bacolod head Ferdinand Lavin earlier said.

The NBI filed charges for illegal possession of firearms against them before the Bacolod Prosecutor’s Office. The NBI and the Arles family also filed murder charges against them, and seven others, before the Department of Justice in Manila.

In September, Bacolod regional trial court Judge Eliseo Geolingo ordered the NBI to transfer Capunong to the BJMP in Bacolod. Only Fortunado and Daguia remained in NBI custody, but Fortunado was recently brought to Bacolod at several hearings before Bacolod RTC-Branch 42 Judge Fernando Elumba.

Also named in the murder complaint aside from the three were RPA-ABB members Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara, and Rustom Puro, who are all at-large, Emmanuel Medez, an employee of the Ilog municipal government, and Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, who was tagged as the mastermind of the crime.

The Alvarezes, Tabujara, and the rest of the suspects denied the crime.

Recently, the DOJ sent subpoenas to all suspects, while Mayor Alvarez was suspended by the Sandiganbayan for 90 days in relation to a graft case against him.

Philip Arles, son of the slain judge, said the Sandigan case of Mayor Alvarez was the reason why his father was killed. “The mastermind of the crime had suspected that our father was the one who followed up the case with the Sandiganbayan,” he said.

Lavin said the temporary liberty of Capunong is part of the legal procedure. He said they cannot continue the detention of Capunong after he posted bail as there is no warrant of arrest yet issued against him in line with the murder case filed against him before the DOJ.

The NBI however will arrest Capunong again as soon as the warrant is out against him, said Lavin.

Capunong, for his part, said that he will not run away from the murder case filed against him as he maintained his innocence from the crime. (FREEMAN)