Time to arrest Ecleo

It’s about time that the court laid down the law and issued the arrest warrant for Dinagat Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr., founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) and prime suspect in the murder of his wife Alona Bacolod.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Soliver Peras cancelled Ecleo’s P1-million bail bond and gave the cult leader until May 8, a generous deadline, to undergo the heart bypass he said he needs.

Pleadings by his lawyers notwithstanding, the cancellation of Ecleo’s bail should send a message to Dinagat’s non-existent lawmaker that he should turn himself in.

Unfortunately, the last time he got jailed, a small army had to be sent to raid his stronghold in Dinagat Island where he was surrounded by loyal followers who fought to the death to defend him.

And as Alona Bacolod’s death showed, geography isn’t a problem when Ecleo deems it fit to eliminate any threats to his person.

It’s a wonder that Judge Peras and the Sandiganbayan that convicted Ecleo of graft haven’t received death threats, though they may be keeping it to themselves.

In issuing the cancellation order, Peras rightly noted that Ecleo had been defying the law through his non-appearance following his Sandiganbayan conviction. The heavier penalty of parricide awaits Ecleo, who certainly doesn’t want to invite further cause for the authorities to bear down on him.

In fact, why should the national government be afraid of Ecleo in the first place, when it has the people and the resources to bring him down legally, albeit forcefully?

Judge Peras has appointed the Caraga police to arrest Ecleo, and while we don’t know just how many members Ecleo has in his fold, let alone assess the security threat it poses should they go rogue, it is reasonable to expect that the police can take him down and bring him to justice.

A problem would arise if Ecleo does a Sen. Panfilo Lacson and becomes a fugitive.

But while Lacson continues to enjoy the presumption of innocence and with it all the trappings of power accorded to his office, Ecleo’s recent graft conviction makes him, like former legislator and now convicted drug user Rolando Singson, a non-entity in Congress.

Due to his followers, Ecleo and his mother Glenda Ecleo remain a political force in Surigao. but for once, it’s time that the full weight and force of the law be brought down on Ecleo’s head.

No more hiding for this cult leader, whose privileged existence as a “demigod” in the eyes of his followers should not be a hindrance to the government which should hold him accountable for the trail of blood that ended on his doorstep the day his wife got killed.