|
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Man yields, tags Alona brod killer
By Edwin G. Espejo
GENERAL SANTOS -- Nearly two years after Alona Bacolod-Ecleo's death, a man surfaced Wednesday in General Santos City to say it was Alona's older brother who strangled her, then dumped her body in Dalaguete, Cebu.
Cedric Divinadira, 32, surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 12 and confessed his role in the crime, for which Alona's husband Ruben Ecleo Jr. is detained in the Cebu City jail.
He told reporters that it was Ben "Boboy" Bacolod who mauled and strangled Alona, 27, after she failed to deliver the money her brother wanted. Divinadira failed to present any evidence.
Ben and three other members of the Bacolod family were killed when a lone gunman attacked them outside their home in Mandaue City in June 2002, the night before Ecleo's arrest. Ben was 36.
Divinadira, a resident of Labangon, Cebu City, said he has been on the run since the day after Alona's death on Jan. 5, 2002, but was bothered by his conscience.
In Cebu City, Niņo Bacolod said Divinadira's claim was clearly fabricated, but not surprising.
"We expected that. We know that the Ecleos will do everything just to protect Ruben's name," Niņo said, adding that he has not heard of Divinadira before.
For their protection, the Bacolod family is staying with CIDG 7 in Cebu.
New lead?
CIDG 7 Chief Edwin Diocos said he has yet to study Divinadira's confession, but added that "volunteer witnesses" must be dealt with carefully.
The Ecleos "will do everything because they have the money," Diocos said in a radio dySS interview Wednesday night.
In earlier affidavits, Ecleo and a member of his Banawa household staff, Margie Pasquil, had said Ben was the last person seen with Alona. They were supposed to go to an overnight outing.
An official of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), the organization Ecleo heads, also made the same accusation against Ben in the early stages of the case.
But prosecution witness Enrique Lacerna, in Wednesday's hearing in Cebu City, said he did not take as "a lead" the statement of PBMA's Merlinda Lagroma that Ben killed Alona.
Lacerna is chief investigator of the CIDG in Central Visayas.
Lacerna told Regional Trial Court Branch 23 Judge Generosa Labra that as an investigator, he did not give weight to the statement, considering that Lagroma was not in Cebu at the time of Alona's disappearance and death.
He was also not aware and he was not told that Alona's brothers, Ben and Josebil, were the ones who pointed out to policemen the blood-stained shower curtain, doorknob and bed sheet in the Ecleo home in Forest Hills, Banawa, Cebu City.
Chest pains
Wednesday's hearing was delayed for about five minutes when Ecleo reported he was suffering from "severe chest pains."
Ecleo waived his right to confront prosecution witnesses for the day and was quickly sent back to the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) so its in-house doctor could check his condition.
A check with the BBRC later in the afternoon showed that Ecleo was doing okay and was resting inside his cell.
He was not taken to the hospital.
Neither Ecleo nor his lawyers could be reached Wednesday night to comment on Divinadira's confession.
But CIDG 12 Director Senior Supt. Efren Yebra expressed doubts about that confession.
Yebra referred Divinadira to lawyer Luis Salazar, who said the man could not be detained, as there is no case against him yet.
Divinadira said Ben, whom he knew as Boboy, picked him up on Jan. 5, 2002 in a billiard hall in downtown Cebu City for an unspecified "job."
Paid P30T?
They picked up Alona at the Ecleo residence in Banawa, and Ben allegedly asked if she brought money with her.
Alona then got the money from her store on D. Jakosalem St., but she and Ben began fighting inside a van because the money fell short of Ben's expectations, said Divinadira.
At the height of the argument, Ben strangled his sister, he added.
Divinadira said they then got a black plastic bag, placed the body inside and dumped it near a beach in Dalaguete, Cebu.
For his troubles, Divi-nadira said he got P30,000. He has been on the run since then, moving from Cebu to Leyte, then to Davao.
On Sunday dawn, he arrived in General Santos. He went to the CIDG 12 the day after to make his confession.
Divinadira is willing to undergo a lie detector test to prove he is telling the truth, as well as face whatever charges are filed against him as a result of his confession.With Minerva B. Gerodias & Giovanni A. Nilles of Sun.Star Cebu
(December 18, 2003 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
