Cebu City prosecutor taken out of Ecleo case

CEBU CITY — A city prosecutor was taken out of the panel handling the murder case against cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. after revealing his brother’s affiliation with the group and subsequently asking for his relief.

In a memorandum last Monday, the city’s chief prosecutor, Jose Pedrosa, said prosecutor Tolomeo Dinoy will be relieved from his duties on the Ecleo case and may return to his former task as prosecutor of heinous crimes.

Pedrosa said he found Dinoy’s request to be relieved from the Ecleo prosecution panel "serious enough" because "it involves not only the office but also the future of his family."

Pedrosa, however, said he would still require Dinoy to stay with the panel until such time that he is able to accomplish his tasks in relation to the Ecleo case.

Dinoy earlier sought voluntary inhibition from the case, saying he would not want to jeopardize the safety of his brother’s family.

"I’m very happy that I’m free from any controversy," he said.

Even if Pedrosa insisted that he should stay in the prosecution panel, Dinoy said he would still decline.

He said he was heeding the advice of former Regional Trial Court Judge Galicano Arriesgado that it would be better for him to inhibit from the case for delicadeza.

Three brothers of Alona Bacolod, Ecleo’s murdered wife, have sent a letter to Pedrosa expressing their dissatisfaction with the way Dinoy had performed during the pre-trial hearing last April 10.

Josebil, Ricky and Angelito Bacolod said they also doubted Dinoy’s loyalty after his recent disclosure about his brother’s affiliation with the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), of which Ecleo is the supreme leader.

Dinoy, however, merely shrugged off the criticisms, saying it is impossible for him to be perfect and not to commit any mistakes.

In a related development, regional state prosecutor Hernando Masangkay believes it is quite unusual for Ecleo’s lawyer, Orlando Salatandre, to say that he would place Pedrosa and prosecutor Jesus Feliciano on the witness stand to testify in favor of the defense.

He said that unless there is a court order, Salatandre could not compel Pedrosa and Feliciano to testify for the defense.

During the pre-trial, Salatandre said he would summon Pedrosa and Feliciano to testify on the earlier resolution of Feliciano and prosecutors Ma. Luisa Ratilla-Buenaventura and Gilbert Moises recommending that the case be remanded to the police for further build-up, citing insufficiency of evidence. Pedrosa rejected the recommendation and had the case filed in court.

Ecleo stands as the main suspect in the death of Bacolod, a senior medical student in Cebu whose body was found in a garbage bag dumped in a ravine in Dalaguete town on Jan. 9 last year.

Forensic tests showed that Bacolod was badly beaten up and strangled. — Freeman News Service