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Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Nalzaro: Appeal to Ecleo’s conscience
By Bobby Nalzaro
RUBEN Ecleo Jr., the supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), will never stop adopting violent means, to get away from the parricide charge he is facing in connection with the brutal killing of his wife, Alona.
The deployment of his “White Eagle liquidation squad” in the city is aimed at terrorizing the Cebuano community and at instilling fear in people who are directly involved in the prosecution of his case. By doing so, he hopes to transfer the trial of the case outside of Cebu city.
The statement of Ecleo’s lawyer that the cult leader has nothing to do with those fully-armed PBMA members, who were arrested by the Lapu-Lapu City police over the weekend, is a lot of baloney. His lawyer should tell that to the dead marines in Mindanao and not to the people of Cebu. Does he consider Cebuanos idiots?
Those arrested PBMA members, for sure, were not acting on their own. They must have been sent by their “master” on a deadly mission in Cebu City. I am convinced the group was about to launch a rescue operation of Michel Favila, suspect in the killing of lawyer Arbet Yongco, and the assassination of personalities who are deemed by Ecleo as hindrance to his plan or are critical of him.
It is lamentable that, according to intelligence reports, one of the group’s targets was this writer. Perhaps because of my relentless reporting on Ecleo’s case and commentaries against the cult leader. Perhaps my negative commentaries earned the ire of the self-proclaimed “god” of the PBMA, landing me in the group’s hit list. I am prepared for the worst, though.
Had the PBMA hit squad succeeded in their evil plan to stage a series of assassinations, Cebu would have been very bloody. The image of Cebu City as a peaceful place would have been shattered.
I hope the local government and the police will strengthen security in Cebu for we don’t know if there are other Ecleo loyalists who are armed and dangerous.
Perhaps we should ask Ecleo if he will indeed resort to such violence just to be free of the charge. If he thinks he is innocent, he should leave everything to the court. He is not yet convicted. He is entitled to a fair trial. So, why are there armed PBMA members in Cebu?
If Ecleo is a peace-loving individual, being the titular head of a religious organization, then he should stop the violence. Orlando Salatandre, his lawyer, made an appeal to his client over my radio program not to resort to violence. I think Ecleo should listen to his counsel and to his conscience, if he has one.
(e-mail: bobby@sunstar.com.ph/text 09193181404)
(December 8, 2004 issue)
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