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Monday, July 31, 2006
Nalzaro: Ecleo’s dilatory tactic
By Bobby Nalzaro
THE resolution of the much-publicized parricide case against Ruben Ecleo Jr., supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), will be further delayed if the court grants the motion for inhibition filed by the defense counsel.
Ecleo’s lawyer Orlando Salatandre asked Judge Geraldine Faith Econg to inhibit from the case on the basis that she and the original private prosecutor, the late Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco, were classmates and close friends in college.
Sta. Ana-Yongco was killed inside her house a few years ago. Her alleged killers, who are now facing murder charges, belong to PBMA.
But why file the motion now? Judge Econg has been handling the case for more than a year? She is the sixth judge to handle the case and was the second judge to conduct a full-blown trial where the prosecution presented their evidences and witnesses. The others only heard motions, like venue transfer and bail.
Is Salantandre’s legal maneuver a dilatory tactic, aimed at buying time to prolong the enjoyment of Ecleo outside the jail?
Perhaps the lawyer is afraid that the judge will cancel Ecleo’s bail in view of the findings of Dr. Generoso Matiga that the cult leader is no longer a “walking time bomb.” In fact, Ecleo is fit to return behind bars.
Being a classmate and a friend of the judge is not a ground for inhibition. I believe some of the private and government prosecutors in the Ecleo case and perhaps even Salatandre are also friends of the presiding judge. The friendship of Judge Econg and Sta. Ana-Yongco ended when the latter was murdered.
Section 1, Rule 137 of the Revised Rules of Court (Disqualificaton of Judicial Officers): Disqualification of judges—“No judge or judicial officer shall sit in any case in which he, or his wife or child, is pecuniarily interested as heir, legatee, creditor or otherwise or in which he is related to either party within the sixth degree of consanguinity or affinity or to counsel within the fourth degree, computed according to the rules of the civil law, or in which he has been executor, administrator, guardian, trustee or counsel or in which he has presided in any inferior court when his ruling or decision is the subject of review, without the written consent of all parties in interest, signed by them and entered upon the record.”
“A judge may, in the exercise of his sound discretion, disqualify himself from sitting in the case, for just or valid reasons other than those mentioned above.”
It will not sit well if another judge decides the case because he/she will be hearing only the presentation of the defense. A judge doesn’t only receive evidences and hear the testimonies of witnesses. He/she can also determine if the witnesses are telling the truth by observing their body language during the conduct of the cross and direct examinations.
It will also be agonizing for the Bacolods if the case is delayed again. A case of justice delayed, justice denied. I hope that Judge Econg is firm in her conviction to decide the case, regardless of whose parties will benefit from her fair and unbiased decision.
(bgnalzaro@gmanetwork.com/09182198333)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 31, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
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