Tuesday, July 08, 2008 Tomas assigns Dumpit to secure Judge Econg
BECAUSE she is handling too many cases, a Supreme Court (SC) official said there are too many sources of threats on Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Geraldine Faith Econg’s life.
Econg met Deputy Court Administrator Ruben dela Cruz, who sits in the SC’s committee for the security of justices and judges, last Friday regarding the threats she received through text messages.
The SC official was accompanied by a lawyer working in his office and National Bureau of Investigation-Manila agent Marlon Tauli.
“I’m handling too many cases and there is too much mobility on my part that increases the risks,” Econg said of dela Cruz’ assessment on the matter.
Security
But Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is taking the threats on Econg’s life seriously and sent his own security detail and one of the city police’s best shooters to look after the judge.
On his order, SPO1 Adonis Dumpit has been assigned as Econg’s personal bodyguard, the mayor confirmed.
“I ordered it. We have to protect our judges. I learned about the threats basically from what came out in the media, so I said we will protect her until the case is finished, or even after that... This is very serious,” Osmeña told reporters yesterday.
Dumpit was previously assigned as the mayor’s close-in security detail after he was suspended over cases of grave misconduct for allegedly shooting a suspected criminal.
In the SC inquiry, cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr., accused of killing his wife Alona, could not be singled out as the source of the threat, as what one of the prosecutors suspect.
No one could single out the fraternity Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) either.
Econg is handling Ecleo’s parricide case and the case of an Akrho member accused of murder.
Dela Cruz’s team interviewed the members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Fuente Police Station and inspected the Marcelo Fernan Palace of Justice and found that it was a “safe.” (JGA/LCR)
