No more excuses
It was long in coming but Congress has finally dropped congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr. from the roll of legislators now that the euphoria over the impeachment trial has died down.
Members of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) in Cebu who have watched the ups and downs of Ecleo’s parricide trial over ten years are resigned to the fate of their supreme master.
That doesn’t apply though to his followers in Dinagat Island, whose fanatic loyalty to Ecleo was shown during the 2003 bloody raid in the former congressman’s house, where he is highly likely to be hiding again.
There is no more obstacle for the police to arrest Ecleo. He no longer enjoys parliamentary immunity from arrest or suit.
More than a month after his conviction in Cebu on the charge of parricide for the death of his wife, Alona, the cult leader is still scot-free with nary a care in the world other than thoughts of hiding in the shadows, thanks to the turtle-like pace of the police hunt.
The reward for Ecleo’s capture was pumped up to P450,000 by the PNP authorities this week from an initial P150,000.
We hope the bounty is attractive enough to entice the police or their assets to comb the country for Ecleo’s shadow, if he’s still in the country.
Asking his family to produce Ecleo is like asking the paint on the wall to dry faster during the rainy season; it simply won’t happen.
Ecleo’s family and personal armory may be formidable but they can’t hold off a combined police-military dragnet if the authorities are determined to arrest him.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) unleashed a special task group to focus on the manhunt. Let’s see what stuff they’re made of.
Despite the 2003 raid on his Dinagat fortress that turned bloody for some of Ecleo’s followers, this shouldn’t stop men in uniform from doing their job.
The police and the military have all the resources at their disposal to apprehend him and satisfy the demands for justice from his surviving victims.
They have no more excuses not to reel in Ecleo.
