Why Ecleo has eluded the law
The axe fell on Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. when Judge Soliver Peras sentenced the religious cult leader to reclusion perpetua or 20 to 40 years in jail for the murder of Alona Bacolod-Ecleo. The court also ordered the lawmaker to pay his wife’s family P25.6 million in damages.
Alona’s gruesome killing happened Jan. 5, 2002, in Banawa, Cebu City. News of the grisly crime riveted public attention because of the parricide angle, rumors about Ecleo’s drug abuse and his link to the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA).
The PBMA was founded by Ruben Ecleo Sr. in the 1960s. From an itinerant preacher, Ecleo Sr. became an influential politician who commanded the loyalty of cultists in Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte. The fanatical support of his followers catapulted Ecleo Sr. to political fame and soon national politicians were making a beeline to his base in San Jose town because of his ability to deliver command votes. When he died in 1987, the torch was passed on to Ruben Jr., who was named “supreme master” of an estimated one million PBMA members.
Ecleo’s conviction for the death of Alona invites not just the narration of the facts of the case, also but of the massacre of the Bacolod family, including an innocent bystander, in the hands of a PBMA member who was subsequently killed by responding lawmen. The victims of the June 2002 massacre were Alona’s siblings, parents and a neighbor.
The killings happened just as lawmen were pursuing Ecleo in his Dinagat enclave. The shootout that ensued between Ecleo’s followers and policemen resulted in the deaths of 23 people.
Ecleo eventually surrendered and was locked up in the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center but his detention did not stop him from flouting the law. In 2003, the PNP conducted an inspection after it was reported that he brought women, illegal drugs and gadgets inside his cell. When Bureau of Jail Management and Penology officials held a surprise inspection, they found wads of money, including foreign currency in Ecleo’s cell, giving credence to reports that he was bribing jail guards. The police even found a portable chainsaw, but despite the clear violations, the Department Interior and Local Government, then headed by Marius Corpus, managed only with a public pronouncement that BJMP will probe the jail guards.
Controversial events surrounding the case took another bloody turn when private prosecutor Arbet Sta. Ana Yongco was gunned down early morning in October 2004 by a gunman who later died in jail. Before her death, Yongco filed a motion for reconsideration in a bid to stop the court from allowing Ecleo to post bail after then Presiding Judge Generosa Labra granted Ecleo’s bail petition.
The late lady lawyer tried to block the court order on grounds that Ecleo was a flight risk, pointing out that he was being tried for a crime punishable by capital punishment and with strong evidence by the prosecution, the conditions raised the possibility the accused will jump bail once it is granted.
I can still remember this controversy because it sparked debates and radio stations were flooded with adverse reactions aimed at the court. Amid allegations that she was threatened, bribed and promised a promotion, Labra defended her decision saying it was based on humanitarian reasons.
The P1-million guarantee eventually allowed the “walking time bomb” to go home to Dinagat in 2004. Three years later, he ran for congressman and won the post handily. He was reelected in 2010 but the political makeover was not meant to be. Last year, the Sandiganbayan convicted him for graft charges related to questionable projects in his hometown during his stint as mayor from 1991 to 1994. The Supreme Court sustained the anti-graft court’s decision and the next thing we knew, Ecleo went into hiding.
Judge Soliver Peras is getting praises for his courage in handling Ecleo’s case, but what about the difficulty of the police in finding Ecleo? Unfortunately, justice has yet to be fully served, and one of reasons why this has happened is because the previous court had ignored the all too apparent scenario that Ecleo will avoid sentencing or going to jail once he is allowed to walk out of it.
