Ecleo fails to finish 30-minute stress test

Cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. underwent a stress test yesterday but his failure to finish the required 30-minute run using a treadmill machine supported his lawyer's claim that the parricide suspect is still not physically fit to be sent back to jail.

Ecleo's lawyer Orlando Salatandre said his client only spent 16 minutes running through the machine instead of the 30-minute requirement based on his age to prove his health condition.

Aside from the stress test, Ecleo also underwent a 2D echo cardiogram test conducted by Generoso Matiga, one of Cebu's best cardiologists, at the Perpetual Succour Hospital.

Several medical gadgets were placed on Ecleo's body to monitor the beating and other functions of his heart. Matiga, however, did not immediately release the results of the examination.

Regional Trial Court judge Geraldine Faith Econg personally attended the medical examination and instructed Matiga to submit to her the results once these are completed.

Matiga told Econg that he wanted to first see Ecleo's old medical records to compare them with the results of the latest examination so he could give a factual finding on whether Ecleo's condition is already improved as claimed by the private prosecutors.

The court set the examination at 1:30 p.m., but Ecleo and his mother, Rep. Glenda Ecleo of the first district of Surigao del Norte, arrived at the hospital ahead of the schedule.

Ecleo, accused of killing his wife, Alona Bacolod, in 2002, was ordered to undergo the medical examination to determine his present health condition after the private prosecutors had asked the court to cancel his P1 million bail so he could be sent back to jail.

It was private prosecutor Fritz V. Quiñanola who observed that Ecleo's health condition has improved. But Salatandre rejected the observation, saying that lawyers are not the competent persons to determine the health condition of a person.

Salatandre said Ecleo's cardiologist, Roberto Anastacio of Makati Medical Center, could attest that his client is still unhealthy because until now, Ecleo is regularly reporting to him for checkup.

To prove the veracity of Salatandre's claim, Econg decided to order an independent medical checkup to be conducted by a private medical practitioner.

The Cebu City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines shouldered the P5,000 expenses for Ecleo's medical test.

The Court of Appeals had ruled that there is no legal obstacle for the court to look into the possible cancellation of Ecleo's bail if it would be proven that his health condition has already improved.

On March 2, 2004, RTC judge Generosa Labra had allowed Ecleo, the former mayor of San Jose, Surigao del Norte, to post a P1 million bail, citing his worsening health condition. - Rene U. Borromeo