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Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lapu-Lapu City cops hold 2 Ecleo guards
By Allan I. Varquez
CEBU CITY -- Cops in Lapu-Lapu City intercepted Wednesday night the two police escorts of Representative Glenda Ecleo and her son Ruben Ecleo Jr., for carrying allegedly unlicensed firearms.
The Ecleos arrived at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport from Surigao del Norte past 6 p.m., with their security escorts PO3 Warlito Acain and PO2 Romeo Ecle, each armed with a .45 pistol.
The younger Ecleo's parricide hearing is scheduled to resume today in Cebu City.
The tension began when the vehicle carrying the Ecleos sped past a checkpoint outside the airport, ignoring a seven-man team from the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit.
That triggered a chase that ended at the foot of the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge in Mandaue City.
No shots were fired during the chase, which lasted more than five minutes.
Lapu-Lapu Police Chief Supt. Louie Oppus said they never thought the Ecleos were inside the Strada until they intercepted it in Mandaue.
He said they held only policemen Ecle and Acain for investigation, and let Ruben and the congresswoman go. The two policemen were from San Jose Police Station in Surigao del Norte, hometown of the Ecleos and headquarters of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA).
Aside from having unlicensed firearms, the two policemen allegedly did not have papers to justify their assignment as security escorts of the Ecleos.
Oppus said they are also trying to ascertain if Ecle and Acain are members of the PBMA, a religious organization whose support has catapulted the Ecleos to the highest ranks of Surigao politics.
Early last December, another checkpoint by the Lapu-Lapu Swat team intercepted a van carrying eight members of the PBMA who had with them a stash of high-powered guns and Swat vests similar to those worn by Cebu City's police force.
Airport tip
Three of those eight men have since been linked to the murder last October of lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco, the private prosecutor on the Ecleo parricide case.
The Lapu-Lapu Swat team was sent to the airport yesterday following a tip that two armed men were roaming there, looking for a rental van that could transport their companions.
Senior Inspector Jonathan Pineda and his team quickly set up a checkpoint outside the airport, after being told that the two armed men were in a green Strada, followed by at least two private vehicles and two motorcycles.
As they signaled the convoy to stop, the Strada drove past, triggering the chase. Pineda and his men focused on the head of the convoy, allowing the other vehicles to flee.
Oppus said his men thought all along that they were chasing only armed men, but they were surprised to discover that Glenda and Ruben Ecleo were aboard the car Acain drove.
An investigation revealed the two policemen only had a memorandum receipt for their firearms and a patrol order that appeared irregular.
Lapses
Oppus said the PO failed to specify the type and caliber of the firearms that Ecle and Acain were supposed to be carrying. The order bore the signature of the PNP provincial director of Surigao del Norte, instead of the regional director's.
Despite being members of the San Jose Police Station, the two should not have been allowed to escort a VIP like Congresswoman Ecleo, he added. Only the Police Security and Protection Office can field security escorts.
Another breach of PNP rules was the two policemen's alleged failure to coordinate with the local police, which their mission order required them to do.
Oppus said the two will be charged with illegal possession of firearms if they cannot prove that the guns they brought with them were government-issued.
"There are lapses and even if the two policemen can present documents that their firearms were government-issued they cannot avoid their administrative liabilities," he said.
The complaint will be filed as soon as his office gets the go signal of the legal department of the Police Regional Office 7, which is verifying Ecle and Acain's background from the Caraga regional office.
(January 27, 2005 issue)
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