Dinagat congressman Ecleo's lawyers quit as his counsel

Ruben Ecleo Jr. and the family of his slain wife. FILE PHOTO

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

CEBU CITY -- Lawyer Orlando Salatandre and another lawyer have withdrawn as counsels for Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr., who is being hunted down after the court convicted him for killing his wife in Cebu City 10 years ago.

Salatandre and his fellow defense lawyer Giovannie Mata Monday filed a motion to withdraw as Ecleo’s counsel before Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras of Branch 10.

Salatandre said another lawyer will take over Ecleo’s case and that his client didn’t oppose the decision.

Ecleo, who is the supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), a cult founded by his father in Surigao del Norte, was found guilty of parricide in the death of his wife Alona.

She was strangled in their residence in Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, on Jan. 5, 2002, and her body was dumped in the southern Cebu town of Dalaguete.

Ecleo was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or a jail term of 20 years and one day to 40 years, and ordered to pay the five remaining siblings of Alona P26.3 million in damages. 

But private prosecution lawyer Kit Enriquez believed the withdrawal of Ecleo’s lawyers was a tactical maneuver.

He said the lawyers’ court pleading does not bear the signature of Ecleo.

Enriquez said defense lawyers may have decided to withdraw as a maneuver so Ecleo would have a reason to delay seeking reconsideration of the court decision or an appeal on his conviction, and thus avoid it from becoming a final judgment.

Prosecution lawyers earlier said Ecleo loses his right to have his conviction reviewed or appealed if he fails to surrender by April 28, which is 15 days after the promulgation of the court decision.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to find and arrest Ecleo, who has been included in the A1 list of high-profile fugitives in the Department of Justice, together with retired army general Jovito Palparan, former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes and his brother, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes.

Ecleo has been hiding since the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant against him early last year.

The Sandiganbayan earlier found Ecleo guilty of three counts of graft for overpaying the construction of two municipal buildings and for spending public funds for a women’s center owned by the PBMA during his stint as mayor of San Jose, Dinagat Island.

He was supposed to be jailed for 31 years on that case.

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