PBMA man says body found in Dalaguete was not Alona's

A leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association yesterday told the court that contrary to earlier identification, the body found in Dalaguete town in 2001 was not that of Alona Bacolod-Ecleo.

Jose Dayaganon Sr., former president of the PBMA chapter in barangay Lamakan, Argao town, is the defense's first witness in the parricide case against PBMA supreme master Ruben Ecleo Jr. who is accused of killing his wife Alona.

"Wala gyud ko naka-identify adto nga hitsura didto sa morgue...ang akong nakita sa morgue dili gyud dagway ni Madame Alona Bacolod-Ecleo," Dayaganon said.

Dayaganon said that upon hearing the news that it was Alona who was found dead in Dalaguete, he personally went to the town morning of January 9, 2001 to verify the report. From Argao, he and a woman went to Dalaguete and proceeded to the funeral parlor where the body was.

Upon seeing the body, Dayaganon said he concluded it was not Alona who he has met many times before.

He said the last time he saw her was in January 5, 2001 when he went to Ecleo's house in barangay Banawa, Cebu City, to report his chapter's accomplishments to Ecleo. That same day, he also reported seeing Alona ride a vehicle with her brother Ben Bacolod, presumably to go to a party.

Before they left, he reportedly overheard Alona ask her bodyguard: "Daghan ba ang mukuyog sa party?" Dayaganon said he was three meters away from Alona that time.

However, when he went to the funeral homes in Dalaguete, Dayaganon said Alona's family, especially her father Elpedio, firmly believed it was his daughter's body that was found at the bottom of a cliff.

Ben, Elpidio and his wife Rosalia Bacolod, were killed when a man peppered their house with bullets in Mandaue City several months after the body was found. Ben was said to be the only witness to Alona's murder.

The killing was seen as revenge after Ecleo was arrested in his hometown on Dinagat Island, Surigao del Sur.

The direct examination on Dayaganon will continue today. Ecleo was allowed to post bail due to health reasons after being detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center. - Joeberth M. Ocao/BRP