‘He never let go of the Ecleo case’

CEBU CITY—He is one of those judges who cannot be intimidated. Judge Soliver Peras of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 in Cebu City didn’t flinch when the parricide case of Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. of Dinagat Island was raffled off to his sala in 2009.

He also didn’t hesitate to convict Ecleo, the “supreme master” of the cult Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), for killing his wife, Alona, and sentence him to at least 30 years’ imprisonment.

Peras, 54, ordered Ecleo to pay P25 million in compensatory damages, representing the amount that Alona would have earned had she been able to finish and practice medicine for 50 years.

Many Cebuanos, as well as other judges, admire Peras’ courage but worry about his safety.

“Every time a judge decides a highly emotional case, there is always that security problem, especially since judges are very vulnerable due to lack of security,” said RTC Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul, committee chair on security at the Palace of Justice.

Basis for fear

Their fears are not without basis.

Alona’s parents and two siblings were killed by a PBMA member at the family residence in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, in the evening of June 8, 2002.

At that time, policemen were engaged in a heavy gunfight with Ecleo’s supporters who barricaded their leader’s mansion on Dinagat to prevent his arrest. Sixteen PBMA members and a policeman were killed.

Another PBMA member walked into the house of private prosecutor Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco in Cebu City in the morning of Oct. 11, 2004, and shot her in the face, head and neck while she was reading the Bible.

Six judges had inhibited themselves from handling the Ecleo case during the course of the trial that spanned 10 years. In 2009, the case landed on the sala of Peras.

Stickler for rules

Peras, a military reservist, is known in the Palace of Justice to be feisty and a stickler for rules. He would not mince words to those who had violated policies.

Protective of his privacy, he rarely grants media interviews and spends most of his time in his chamber.

But Peras is also known for being security-conscious. There were instances when he brought along high-powered firearms while walking from the entrance of the Palace of Justice to his courtroom.

A court employee, who requested anonymity, described Peras as intelligent and brave. “He never let go of the Ecleo case unlike the other judges,” the employee said.

Peras explained that a judge must assume that a threat exists in every case he handles because “the party planning to kill you will not tell you they will.”

Threats, he stressed, are part of the judge’s job.

“When you take your oath of office, it means you’re ready to face cases that are controversial enough. When the first sign of threat takes place, you should not pack up your bags and inhibit yourself,” Peras said.

Even if it was a high-profile case, Peras said he treated the Ecleo case like any others lodged before him.

“I have already disposed of a lot of murder cases … It (parricide case) was ordinary. If I treat it as important, it would be unfair to the other cases,” he said.

He was only intimidated by the voluminous court records, which took him two months to study to come up with a decision. He had to evaluate all the pieces of evidence, as well as testimonies of the witnesses.

“Of course, I also have to consider other cases. I think, I made a leave of absence for two weeks [to focus on Ecleo’s case],” he said.

Peras said his life had not changed after handing the guilty verdict to Ecleo. “I don’t even have bodyguards,” he said. His family is based in Manila.

Ateneo Law product

A product of Ateneo Law School, Peras became a lawyer in 1985. Two years later, he worked as a confidential lawyer of Supreme Court Associate Justice Justo Torres Jr.

It was Torres who influenced him to consider the judiciary. “A lot of what he had done made me and influenced me to become a judge,” he said.

In 1990, Peras was appointed RTC judge in Cebu City.

Peras acknowledged that being a judge was not easy; the job was difficult and there were many restrictions.

If he didn’t practice law and become a judge, Peras said he would have been a farmer. “In a farm, you can grow everything. You can take care of farm animals, like chickens and goats,” he said.

Lauded for giving justice to the family of Alona, Peras said he believed that the country’s justice system is working.

He, however, said that if the executive and legislative branches of the government wanted a first-class judicial system, then they should give a “world-class budget” to the judiciary.