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Thursday, June 26, 2003
Alona last seen with Ruben Ecleo, Josebil tells court
By Grecar Nilles
JOSEBIL Bacolod, 22, risked contempt of court yesterday but managed to testify that the last person seen with his sister Alona Bacolod-Ecleo before she died was her husband Ruben Ecleo Jr.
In a two-hour hearing marked by motions to hold at least three persons in contempt of court, Josebil also alleged Ecleo had P15,000 worth of shabu on the day Alona was killed.
He told Regional Trial Court Branch 23 Judge Generosa Labra that he saw Ruben and his bodyguard, Juryven Padero, carrying a big black garbage bag that they placed inside the trunk of Ecleo’s red Toyota.
Ecleo, who heads the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), is charged with parricide for allegedly killing his wife inside their house in Banawa, Cebu City last Jan. 5. He has denied the charge.
The prosecution claimed that from then on, Alona, 27, went missing until her body, stuffed inside a black garbage bag, was found in Barangay Coro, Dalaguete, Cebu on Jan. 8.
Josebil was almost sent to jail after he refused to take the witness stand yesterday if private prosecutor Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco would not be the one to conduct the direct examination.
Yongco arrived late because she also has other cases in other courts. Judge Labra warned her she would be held in contempt the next time she arrives late.
Due to Josebil’s refusal to take the witness stand, Judge Labra summoned him and warned he could be sent to jail if he refuses to testify.
Scripted?
The defense camp suspects Josebil is a “perjured and scripted” witness because of his refusal to testify if Yongco would not be the one to question him.
“If truly he was telling the truth, whoever will conduct the examination will be of no moment as he should have nothing to be afraid of, as truth is mighty. This clearly shows that if Atty. Yongco cannot conduct the direct examination, all his scripted testimony will be thrown to naught and buried into oblivion,” the defense camp said.
Yongco denied the defense’s allegation that Josebil was a “perjured and scripted” witness. She said she and Josebil did not have a prior agreement that he would not testify without her.
During his testimony, Josebil told the court Ruben gave him P8,000 at 10 p.m. last Jan. 4.
Since he does not know anyone who sells drugs, Ecleo allegedly told him to ask Josebil’s brother, Ben, instead.
He said Ben bought P15,000 worth of drugs at 11 a.m. of Jan. 5, the day Alona was strangled, allegedly by Ecleo.
Josebil said that in the evening of Jan. 5, he heard a slam inside the bedroom of spouses Ruben and Alona.
Contradictory
At the same time, Josebil added he also heard his sister shouting for help (“Tabang!”) before Ecleo left the room, half-naked and sweating.
When asked what he did after hearing the noise and upon seeing his brother-in-law, Josebil said he just went to sleep because the PBMA master glared at him.
Josebil also testified the family reported Alona’s disappearance to the Guadalupe Police Station and barangay hall.
According to the police and barangay records, Alona was last seen in the morning of Jan. 6 going out of the house, together with Ruben and his bodyguard, Padero.
But the defense was quick to point out that the two records contradict the prosecution’s claim that Alona could have been killed in the evening of Jan. 5.
“This negates and belies the claim of the prosecution that Alona was killed inside her bedroom on the night of Jan. 5, 2002. Concededly, all the allegations that transpired on the night of Jan. 5 are all concoctions, fabrications and products of the fertile imagination of Ben, Josebil (Bacolod) and the investigating authorities,” the defense lawyers said.
Also yesterday, some members of the Crusade against Violence, headed by Thelma Chiong, were almost cited in contempt for reportedly disrupting court proceedings when they talked inside the courtroom.
(June 26, 2003 issue)
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