Sister urges fugitive Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr to surrender

SURIGAO CITY — Dinagat Vice Governor Geraldine Ecleo on Wednesday appealed to her fugitive brother House Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. to surrender peacefully to authorities to prevent bloodshed. “It is proper for him to submit himself peacefully while our lawyers are preparing the motion for reconsideration to the Court of Appeals,” she said. In an interview on local radio stations in Surigao City, the vice governor also assured authorities her brother, who is the Supreme Master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), is still in the country. She also appealed to some die-hard PBMA fanatics to ignore rumors circulating in Dinagat Island they will be protected by divine powers should they resist authorities serving the arrest warrant. “We don’t want to allow another bloody incident like what happened before. If my brother 'Master Ruben' really loved his people, he should surrender peacefully,” the younger Ecleo added. On June 18, 2002, 16 members of the PBMA cult were killed in a clash with authorities who forced their way into Ecleo's mansion in Dinagat Island to arrest their supreme master. Last Friday, the Cebu Regional Trial Court sentenced Ecleo to life imprisonment for killing his wife, Alona, in 2002. A nationwide manhunt had been ordered against him. Meanwhile, former Dinagat vice governor Elvis Dela Merced on Wednesday also assured authorities Ecleo is still in the country, and appealed to police to avoid armed confrontation with the lawmakers supporters, if possible. Dela Merced added, "PBMA members are law abiding citizens." “Authorities must coordinate with the Ecleo family lawyers to avoid any incident that could hamper the smooth sailing process of serving the arrest warrant just in case”, De la Merced added. The lawmaker was meted with life sentence or reclusion perpetua by a Cebu court and ordered to pay P25 million in damages to the family of his late wife, Alona Bacolod-Ecleo. Graft case On February 10 last year,  a Sandiganbayan division ordered Rep. Ecleo's arrest over graft charges. In a resolution dated Jan. 28, 2011, the Sandiganbayan First Division issued a new warrant of arrest against the lawmaker after the Supreme Court affirmed in November 2010 the anti-graft court’s decision to convict Ecleo and two other local officials for graft. In 2006, Rep. Ecleo was found guilty of graft and got 31-year jail term. — LBG, GMA News