The appeal by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for Cebu province to declare congressman-in-hiding Ruben Ecleo Jr. as most wanted coincided with statements from some lawmakers who voiced concern over the practice of giving cash rewards in exchange for information on the arrest of a criminal or criminal group.
A P360,000 reward was announced by the Capitol for information leading to the arrest of homicide suspect Bella Ruby Santos last July. Two months later, Santos was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in a Mandaluyong City mall, but the reward had yet to be claimed.
Cash rewards ranging from P200,000 to half a million pesos were offered for information leading to the killers of singer Charice Pempengco’s father, Ramgen Revilla and even the assailant of basketball star Ali Peek and so far, the suspected killers of Pempengco’s dad and Revilla were accounted for.
But to be fair, this practice wasn’t en vogue until the US government started it by offering cash rewards amounting to millions of pesos—a pittance considering the exchange rate of the Philippine peso to the dollar—for information leading to the arrest of top rebel leaders with links to the Al Qaeda terror network.
Still, cash rewards could only go so far in effecting the arrest of a criminal suspect; with the exception of the cash reward for Bella that was offered by the Capitol to help speed up the resolution of the Ellah Joy murder case, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro’s second district was correct when he said the cash reward incentive may alienate the poor who would think that justice can be bought by the rich.
In so far as the Bacolod family is concerned, they are dealing with a cult leader and elected congressman with vast resources and fanatical followers at his disposal. A cash reward for information may help leverage their search for justice somewhat, but should law enforcement agencies be totally dependent on this?
About 23 persons died in a raid at Ecleo’s home in Dinagat Island in 2002, two months after his wife Alona Bacolod’s murder. A ruling on his parricide case is barely a month away and it would be a disgrace if he wasn’t present during the court promulgation.
A travel ban may or may not have been issued against the cult leader to avoid his escape from justice, but even without leaving the country Ecleo remains untouchable so far.
We would like to believe that the CIDG especially its Caraga branch which promised to collar Ecleo aren’t so helpless as to be unable to locate him on their own, without assistance of a cash reward. Then again, if they were unable to arrest little old Bella without NBI assistance, then they might need all the help they can get.