Find, get Ecleo, cops told

RAISING the reward money for the arrest of cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. is not enough.

Prosecution lawyers said law enforcement agencies should find and get Ecleo who was convicted for killing his wife in Cebu City and misappropriating funds during his tenure as Dinagat mayor.

“We are not contented. There are those who said he’s in that place but no responses were made,” lawyer Kit Enriquez said.

Enriquez believed Ecleo is just staying in Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte where a number of its people are under Ecleo’s cult, the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association.

Enriquez  said law enforcers should go to Dinagat Islands and locate Ecleo.

The prosecution, however, is happy that the bounty for Ecleo’s arrest was increased by President Benigno Aquino III to P2 million.

“Maybe this (reward money) will encourage authorities and citizens to cooperate in order to arrest Ecleo,” Enriquez said.

Last April, Judge Soliver Peras of the Regional Trial Court Branch 10 in Cebu City found Ecleo guilty of parricide for killing his wife Alona in 2002.

Ecleo was sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 40 years and was mandated P26.3 million in damages. /Reporter ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL