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Ecleo freed on bail

The Freeman News, Philippines
Mar. 3, 2004
Joeberth M. Ocao, with Ryan P. Borinaga and Garry B. Lao
thefreeman.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Wednesday March 3, 2004

Cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. is now a free man, at least temporarily.

The Regional Trial Court in Cebu yesterday freed Ecleo, the divine master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, on a one-million-peso bail.

Aside from requiring bail, Judge Generosa Labra, who is trying Ecleo as the principal suspect in the killing of his wife Alona, also took custody of his passport to prevent possible flight.

Labra earlier denied bail for Ecleo but set aside her own ruling on humanitarian grounds after being convinced Ecleo was suffering from serious ailments for which he had been confined at the Chong Hua Hospital.

“The court, in the exercise of its discretion and for humanitarian consideration, hereby decides to grant the accused’s application for bail. Besides, the court is also morally convinced that the probability of flight of the accused is not strong as he has been regarded as, and in fact is, the Divine Master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, “ Labra said.

Serious ailments had been the last ground Ecleo had raised in seeking bail. The court had rejected the other four, which all dealt with legal technicalities.

Labra conceded that bringing Ecleo back to the city jail from the hospital would imperil his worsening health condition.

The court had allowed Ecleo to undergo complex medical examinations in the hospital to save him from “the possibility of dying anytime, “on the advice of Dr. Evelyn Alesna and police surgeon Rodrigo Codoy.

Alesna described Ecleo as “a walking time bomb who could die anytime from coronary heart disease.

Codoy said further tests should be done on Ecleo to determine the exact cause of the “ suspicious mass “ he discovered in his abdomen.

Ecleo told reporters who rushed to the hospital that he was very happy with the court decision. He said his temporary liberty would allow him to spend more time with his children.

Ecleo’s mother, Rep. Glenda Ecleo, said she will be bringing her son to Manila tomorrow to seek a second medical opinion regarding his ailments.

Ecleo is accused of killing his wife Alona Bacolod two years ago and of disposing of her body in a garbage bag dumped into a ravine in Dalaguete town.

Alona at the time was in her senior year as a medical student in a Cebu university.

Alona’s brothers Josebil and Ricky were shocked and disappointed to learn of the court decision granting Ecleo bail.

Josebil and Ricky are the only surviving members of the Bacolod family. Their parents and siblings were murdered in an attack by a lone gunman, said to be a member of the Ecleo cult, on the same day Ecleo was captured, at a great cost in human life, in the PBMA enclave in Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte.

After being criticized for failing to capture Ecleo months after the murder of Alona, dozens of police, backed by heavily armed soldiers, stormed the Ecleo enclave, killing about 20 of his armed supporters who put up a fight in defense of their master.

Aside from fearing that Ecleo might eventually escape justice, the Bacolod brothers also fear for their own safety now that the man they suspect of having killed their sister is out of jail.

Mayor Tomas Osmena, on learning of the development, said he feels uncomfortable about the whole thing but admits he is in no position to evaluate the court decision.

Trying to recover from the temporary setback, prosecutors said they intend to ask the court to increase the bail for Ecleo and to issue a hold-departure order against him instead of just taking custody of his passport.