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Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Soliver Peras has withdrawn from the Ecleo parricide case. Is this proof that the local justice system has failed the Bacolod family?
Not at all.
What needs to be asked is where one draws the line between security and transparency in the Ecleo case.
At least that's the question posed by Judge Peras in his order inhibiting from the case as he chided the media for being overly concerned with his garrison-style security policies sof requiring SWAT police and two other police teams to be present in his sala, advance pre-listing of the names of parties who will enter, and requiring the media (and other groups) to submit 1x1 ID photos for ?cross referencing? with the press photo IDs they have to wear in the court room.
Peras said he was just concerned about the safety of everyone entering the courtroom, including the defendant Ruben Ecleo, whose ?critical? heart condition, the prosecution is challenging.
All this has been scoffed at as overacting, and rightly so.
Is Ecleo or those who will testify at such extreme risk inside that access to the courtroom becomes an obstacle course? If the past record of violence in the Ecleo case is to made the basis, yes there is real ground for fear of reprisal.
But keep in mind that the murder of family members of Alona Ecleo, and the female private prosecutor who bravely took the case took place in their homes.
There was no threat to life and limb inside the court room itself, unless the steely stare of Ruben Ecleo is enough to knock a witness off his seat and six feet underground.
A judge has full control of the proceedings in his sala. He can send any unruly, suspicious character to jail on an order of direct contempt. It?s within his right to make special arrangements to ensure an orderly and safe trial for all.
The judge said he took his responsiblity in the case seriously and didn?t want lives lost or harmed during his watch. We take his word for it.
Perhaps if Judge Peras attended the dialog with the media which he himself called last Monday with the media, the discussion of how this can be achieved without going to extremes, would have ended up fruitfully.
With Peras as judge no. 7 quitting, the public is growing weary of waiting for justice to be served.
Fear of reprisal is a natural sentiment. People sympathize with that.
Feeling annoyed with the media is a hazard that comes with the territory; that can be managed.
But fear of failure is not an attitude to put up with in the bench.
If Peras does not reconsider the challenge, there are other judges in Cebu ready to serve and brave enough to see the Ecleo case through.
Let?s move on.
