DOJ drops 3 Bacolod siblings from witness protection program

THREE of the four remaining siblings of the slain Alona Bacolod can no longer avail of the government’s witness protection program effective June 1.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said they have finished testifying in court and that threats to their lives “have been reduced to a minimum.”

The Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program (WPSBP) has decided to let go of siblings Angelito, Ricky, and Clea Bacolod as well as prosecution witnesses Ma. Ricarda Bacolod (sister-in-law of the siblings), and Gloria Navaja.

One of the Bacolods, Josebil, will remain under the custody of the DOJ as the prosecution’s rebuttal witness.

The DOJ notice of termination of coverage for the three was signed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

It said readmission is possible “in the event they are called for rebutall and serious threats have resurfaced.”

But Assisistant Regional Prosecutor Llena Ipong-AvilaAvila, WPSBP-7 program implementor, said the regional office was never made to conduct a “threat assessment”.

“It would be better if the five witnesses will remain under our custody until the case (against accused Ruben Ecleo Jr.) is terminated,” Avila said in an interview yesterday.

If the DOJ won’t reconsider its decision, Avila said the Bacolod siblings and other witnesses shall be relocated and granted financial assistance.

The Bacolod siblings were earlier offered P4 million in exchange for their withdrawal from the case of parricide charges against Ecleo, who is now a congressman.

The siblings declined the offer even though they had received death threats.

Two of their siblings, Ben and Evelyn, and parents Rosalia and Elpedio, were shot dead at home in Mandaue City on June 19, 2002.

The killings were believed intended to scare off other family members from pursuing the case against Ecleo, who heads his own cult as supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA).

A PBMA member was the main suspect behind the killings, but no charges were filed since the suspect was later killed in a shootout with police.

Ecleo was accused of killing his wife Alona inside their residence in Guadalupe, Cebu City on Jan. 5, 2002. REPORTER ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL