Fiscals eye travel ban for Ecleo

CEBU CITY — The city prosecutor’s office wants Ruben Ecleo Jr., son of Surigao del Norte Rep. Glenda Ecleo, prevented from leaving the country while he is facing charges for the killing of his wife Alona.

Chief city prosecutor Jose Pedrosa urged Alona’s family to file supplemental affidavits which he can use as basis for asking the court to issue a hold departure order for Ecleo.

Ecleo is the leader of the religious sect Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association which his father founded. He was a former mayor of San Jose, Surigao del Norte.

Pedrosa said he needs the supplemental affidavits to establish the alleged intention of Ecleo to leave the country to escape the charges he is now facing.

Pedrosa said it would be premature and pointless for them to seek a hold departure order for Ecleo without establishing his alleged intention to leave the country.

Apart from this problem, Pedrosa also acknowledged the difficulty of arresting Ecleo in Surigao del Norte once the court issues a warrant, noting that the Ecleo family holds religious and political sway in San Jose town.

Police filed charges of parricide and murder against Ecleo and his bodyguard Juriven Padero with the city prosecutor’s office only last Monday after several postponements.

Alona’s body was found in a garbage bag bound by masking tape in a ravine in Dalaguete three days after she went missing.

Alona and Ecleo temporarily resided in Cebu while she pursued medical studies at the Southwestern University where she was a senior due to graduate in March.

Police found bloodstains in the couple’s home in Banawa, suggesting that she was killed there.

Alona’s brothers alleged they saw Ecleo and Padero load what appeared to be a body in a garbage bag into the family car the night Alona went missing on Jan. 5.

It was not until three days later when her body was found in Dalaguete. That same day, Ecleo left for Surigao del Norte allegedly without looking for his wife.

Police, meanwhile, are trying to ascertain the identity of a woman whose body was found in the Ecleos’ hometown of San Jose.

Police want to find out if the body belongs to Daisy Gallano, the nanny of the Ecleos’ daughter, who also went missing on the same day as Alona’s.

It is still not clear if there is a connection between the two incidents. — Freeman News Service