Ecleo tells court his wife was with her brother last

CEBU, Philippines - Dinagat Representative Ruben Ecleo, Jr., the prime suspect in the death of his wife Alona, testified in court yesterday that Alona’s brother, Ben Bacolod, was the last person to be with his wife before she went missing eight years ago.

“I was alarmed kay sila man ang nagkuyog,” Ecleo told prosecution lawyers during the continuation of his cross-examination yesterday.

Ecleo said he even asked Ben over the phone to report the matter to the police, but Ben reportedly did not answer. Two hours after, Ben and Alona’s other brother Josebil arrived at their residence in Forest Hills, Banawa with policemen and invited him to the Guadalupe Police Station.

Ecleo said he asked the policemen why he was the one being invited to the stationto which the police said he should go with them because he is Alona’s husband.

From the police station, Ecleo said he proceeded to the hospital where Alona was having her internship only to learn that no one had seen her there.

Thinking that Alona might be in his hometown in Dinagat Island, he reportedly went there on January 8, 2002 and heard the day after that a body of a woman, which could be that of Alona, was found in Dalaguete town in Cebu.

However, considering that the identity of the woman could not be ascertained as she was beyond recognition, Ecleo said his mother did not allow him to return to Cebu.

In his previous testimony, Ecleo said he believes that his wife is still alive and only missing.

He said the last time he saw his wife was on January 5, 2002, the day she left for a post New Year’s party with her brother Ben. Ecleo belied allegations that he killed her.

Ben, who was believed to be the only witness in the murder of his sister, was killed in June 2002 at his home in Mandaue City together with his parents Elpidio and Rosalia and sister Evelyn by a lone gunman who was later identified as a member of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) in which Ecleo is the supreme master. — (FREEMAN)