A Regional Trial Court judge handling heinous crime cases in Bayawan City, Oriental Negros, was shot thrice by motorcycle-riding suspects outside his residence, at about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, the Philippine National Police reported.

Judge Orlando Velasco, 59, presiding judge of RTC Branch 63 in Bayawan, was shot with a .45 caliber pistol, and was taken to a hospital in Dumaguete where he is now safe and recuperating.

One of the suspects was later arrested in a police blockade set up in Sta. Catalina, and was identified as Tolyo Eminido, 20, single, of Nagbagang, Sta. Catalina.

Police investigations revealed that Velasco had just come from a social function in Barangay Tinago, Bayawan, on board a motorcycle driven by court employee Jun-jun Garabato.

While mounting in front of his house, the suspects fired at him, and immediately fled towards the north. Responding policemen recovered from the scene of shooting two slugs and three spent shells for a .45 pistol.

Bayawan City police chief, Supt. Roy Abella, disclosed that weeks ago, Velasco noticed the presence of unidentified persons not far from his residence. They could be casing their target, Abella theorized.

Velasco told probers that three nights before the shooting, two motorcycles stopped in front of his house and he overheard one of the riders saying, "That's him."

Meanwhile, Carlito Inojo, a neighbor of the judge, who claims to be his errand boy, said at that about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, he saw two individuals outside Velasco's house, and purportedly waiting for a ride to downtown Bayawan.

When they asked whether the judge was in the house, he told them he was not from the place.

Inojo said the one who asked was of medium build, and the other who offered him a cigaret as slim and with long hair.

Police said they apprehended Eminido at the checkpoint for evading the police and for abandoning his motorcycle. Arresting cops said they found out that he had no driver's license, and the motorcycle had no official receipt and certificate of registration.

Eminido was subjected to a paraffin test at the police crime laboratory in Dumaguete.

Abella said Velasco had requested for police and army escorts during court hearings. The police had also drawn up measures for the security of judges.

The National Bureau of Investigation is conducting a separate investigation on the shooting.

A few weeks ago, a sheriff of the Regional Trial Court in Guihulngan was also shot and killed by unidentified suspects while on his way home from a law class in NORSU Guihulngan campus.*JG

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