Cebu judge to use videocam in court proceedings

CEBU — Starting Jan. 17, Regional Trial Court Judge Geraldine Econg, who is handling the parricide case against cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr., will use a video camera to record all court proceedings in her sala.

She said this will be for recording purposes and for her to know who are entering her chambers.

This, as she scheduled a hearing that day to tackle the motion for inhibition filed by Ecleo’s lawyers against her.

Econg said she will only allow 20 people from both camps to enter her sala during the proceedings to maintain order and decongest her sala.

All judges in the Palace of Justice have also agreed that all visitors be asked to sign a logbook. A separate logbook will be placed at the entrance of her sala, Econg said.

Econg reiterated that she is not threatened nor feels pressured to step down from handling the trial of Ecleo, supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), who is facing parricide charges for the 2002 killing of his wife, Alona Bacolod.

Econg has publicly admitted she received at least three bribe attempts from persons whom she believed were Ecleo’s followers.

Because of the bribe attempts, Ecleo’s lawyers, Orlando Salatandre and Giovanni Mata, filed a motion asking her to inhibit herself from the case.

In a three-page motion, they said if the bribe attempts were true, Econg "has certainly developed a preconceived notion against the PBMA, the accused and his counsels."

Meanwhile, the private prosecutors in Ecleo’s case are opposing his motion for Econg to inhibit herself from further handling the case.

They also belied the defense’s claim that they could have concocted the issue of PBMA members allegedly offering Econg bribe money.

They said Econg’s move to inform the media about the bribe attempts, after telling Salatandre, was not unethical and did not affect her neutrality and impartiality as a judge.

The private prosecutors added that the defense cannot use Econg’s supposed prejudice and hostility when she directed Ecleo to stay in Cebu because the defense heeded the order without objection in last month’s hearing. — Freeman News Service