After a decade of waiting, two of five Bacolod siblings rejoiced that “justice” was served for the murder of their sister Alona.
“Nagpasalamat mi sa Ginoo. Mapahiluna na gyud siya kon asa man sya. (We thank the Lord for the decision. Finally, the soul of our sister can rest),” said Angelito Bacolod after the promulgation yesterday.
Angelito and his brother Josebil shed tears when the verdict was announced convicting Alona’s husband Ruben Ecleo.
“Nalipay ko nga naangkon na ang hustisya. (We are happy that finally justice has been served),” Josebil said.
What remains to be done is to arrest Ecleo.
“Medyo magmalinawon na ang akong kinabuhi. Madakpan unta siya. (Our lives will now become peaceful. I hope Ecleo will be captured),” Angelito said
Earlier in the morning, the two siblings with members of the Crusade Against Violence offered Mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
The two, who testified in the trial, were released from the Department of Justice witness protection program last year after the trial ended.
Five of the 8 Bacolod siblings remain: Gloria, Angelito, Ricky, Josebil and Clea.
Alona was the fourth child. She was strangled at home in sitio Banawa, barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, in 2002 before her body was dumped in a ravine in Dalaguete town, south Cebu.
Two other siblings, Ben and Evelyn, were shot dead soon after by an assailant inside the family’s residence in barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, on June 18, 2002.
The attack came minutes after Ben, a vital witness in the parricide case against Ecleo, was interviewed during an evening radio program.
Their parents, Elpidio and Rosalia Bacolod, and a neighbor were also killed in the bloodbath.
The gunman, Rico Gumonong, was a bank security guard in Cebu City and an active supporter of Ecleo’s Surigao-based cult. The guard was killed in a shoot-out with a responding policeman.
On the same day, Ecleo surrendered. This followed a bloody gun battle between law enforcers serving an arrest warrant and his followers in Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte.
A policeman and 16 cult members were killed during the three-hour encounter, which began past 5 p.m. Most of the casualties were members of the “White Eagles,” an elite group of bodyguards handpicked by Ecleo.