Ecleo followers send threatening text messages

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The followers of Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr., who remains in hiding after he was found guilty of parricide for killing his wife, will reportedly avenge his conviction, according to messages sent by anonymous texters to prosecution lawyers.

Lawyer Kit Enriquez said he and the other prosecution lawyers received the messages, saying that members of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) would “strike back.”

Ecleo is supreme master of the PBMA, a religious group based on Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte.

“Do alert the members of the prosecution panel because they are planning a first strike. Many are furious because several millions have been spent,” read one of the threatening text messages.

The prosecution lawyers have yet to decide whether to take the messages seriously or not, but Enriquez deemed it best to report the matter to the police.

Enriquez said they have never received any threat or offered any bribe since they accepted the case.

Another prosecution lawyer, Fritz Quiñanola, said the best thing to do is to be extra careful, since there is no turning back from the case.– Freeman News Service