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‘End of the world’
People in Don Salvador, Benedicto (DSB) town in central Negros were alarmed with the recent discovery of a huge underground tunnel at Spurs 13, Barangay Bagong Silang.
The tunnel was allegedly dug by people who claimed to be members of the religious cult known as the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) led by the famous Ruben Ecleo, Jr.
Joan Gerangaya, officer-in-charge of Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro)-Bacolod Friday told Sun.Star-Bacolod that DSB Mayor Cynthia de la Cruz had already informed him of the recent discovery.
The tunnel was discovered after some residents in Spurs 13 saw a lot of laua-an trees cut in the area, said Gerangaya quoting De la Cruz in their telephone conversation Friday.
The residents in the area monitored the activities of the suspicious-looking people for many days. Later, they found out that these people were digging a huge tunnel in the area.
They reported the case to Mayor De la Cruz who immediately ordered the town’s police chief to take action.
The authorities caught nine persons including women. They were also reportedly using some chemicals to test the earth of its mineral and metal contents including gold.
When interrogated at DSB Police Office, de la Cruz told Gerangaya that the suspects claimed that they were members of Ecleo’s PBMA.
The suspects, added Gerangaya, also told the mayor that their digging was not for treasure hunting but in preparation for the “end of the world” which they said will occur soon.
De la Cruz, however, was alarmed by the digging including the suspects who refused to tell their exact address.
De la Cruz with police operatives and members of the Task Force Ilahas and operatives from Cenro-Bacolod explored the tunnel Saturday.
Gerangaya said the mayor really wanted to know what is inside the tunnel and has rented a generator in order to provide lights inside it.
It cannot be ascertained yet on how big and long the tunnel is, said Gerangaya.
While the suspects whose names are still being withheld are now detained at the DSB Police jail.
PBMA was founded by Ruben Ecleo, Sr. who was known for making predictions based on “Akashic Records”, or in Hindu mysticism, and cosmic consciousness.
His continuing messianic mystique plays a major role in on-going drama in Dinagat, a small island off the north eastern point of Mindanao mainland.
Cult leaders said that Ecleo, Sr. had possessed the powers to be omnipresent like the “Master Jesus (Christ)” who had been in the America, Egypt, India, and in his native Judea simultaneously, aside from being in the monastery in the Essenean School, near Mount Serbal, overlooking the Black Sea.
Ecleo, Sr. could create different voices and was trained in reading and writing in Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit and Aramaic.
The cultists also claimed that Ecleo, Sr. “could do anything” by reciting the Mantra, which, in Hinduism and Buddhism refers to a sacred word or syllable repeated in prayer and meditation.
The cult master can even transfigure himself and can even resurrect the dead like Jesus, his followers added.
They said their “Master Ruben can materialize anywhere at will.”
Added the cultists, Ecleo, Sr. has the healing powers directly coming from the Divine Father by virtue of the sacred or divine prayers which are called Occultism as Mantras.
Ecleo, Sr. also manifested in different personalities with nicknames such as Ben, Obing, Fred, Freddie, Ruben, Tony and Dr. Laway-all had cured the sick just like Jesus Christ who first applied these powers in Judea.
Ecleo, Sr. then built himself and his family a “kingdom” on improvised Dinagat, a small, irregular and typhoon-prone island.
PBMA then chartered in 1965 that also led to the conversion of Ecleo of the entire Dinagat island as an “Ecleo Country”.
That was the start then the cult become a power political machinery that it created wittingly or unwittingly, a dynasty for the Ecleos.
Ecleo, Sr. elder brother, Moises, then became a governor of Surigao del Norte.
His wife, the former Glenda Oliveros Buray of Gitaganum, Misamis Oriental, is now also a congresswoman of Surigao del Norte while his son Ruben, Jr. was one time mayor of San Jose town.
Another son of Ecleo, Sr., Allan II, took over Ruben Jr.’s position.
This was after Ecleo, Jr. was suspected of killing his wife, Alona Bacolod, in Cebu last January 2002.
Before, the cult members tried to thwart police efforts to arrest the suspect until the higher headquarters of the Philippine National Police acted in serving the warrant of arrest against him.
Police in San Jose were even accused of coddling Ecleo, Jr. before. He is now detained in Cebu City.
Meanwhile, in San Jose town now stand four multi-million pesos PBMA landmarks–the “Divine Master’s Shrine,” “Master’s Mansion,” “Commet House” and the cult’s administration buildings.
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