Court orders Ecleo to ‘refund’ projects

MISSING cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. is confronted with yet another obstacle.

The Sandiganbayan ordered the confiscation of his equipment worth the equivalent of the amount he pocketed during his stint as town mayor of San Jose, Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte, from 1991 to 1994.

Ecleo, supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) was found guilty of three counts of graft for overpricing construction supplies during his stint as mayor.

He was also found guilty by the Sandiganbayan of overpaying the construction of two municipal buildings and for spending public funds for a women’s center owned by his group, PBMA.

The public market project started on Sept. 23, 1991. The building was finished on March 4, 1993, and cost P3.563 million.

Ecleo released P4.008 million, more than P500,000 more to private contractor Ricardo Santillano of PBMA builders.

About P3.84 million was released to Santillano for a municipal building project even if it was only 37 percent completed.

The Sandiganbayan order meant that Ecleo has to give up some of his properties and even money in favor of the government.

Ecleo was sentenced to 31 years for the graft case.

He is also facing expulsion from Congress since the conviction carries an accessory penalty of “perpetual and absolute disqualification from public office.”
Cebu Daily News tried to contact lawyer Orlando Salatandre but he didn’t answer the calls.

Salatandre is Ecleo’s counsel in the parricide case filed against Ecleo in a Cebu City court.

The cult leader faces parricide charges in a Cebu City court for allegedly masterminding the murder of his wife Alona.

He hasn’t attended hearings since an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras of Branch 10 in Cebu City cancelled the P1-million bail and approved the warrant against him for failing to attend the hearings. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol