Troops set to arrest Ecleo

SURIGAO CITY — As police and military troops started massing here to arrest religious leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. in connection with the killing of his wife, last ditch efforts to effect his peaceful surrender are also underway.

Rep. Glenda Ecleo, the mother of Ruben, arrived yesterday in this capital city of Surigao del Norte to meet with provincial police director Ricky Nerbes and Sen. Robert Barbers on how best to deal with the potentially explosive situation.

Barbers, a former policeman, is a friend of the Ecleo family and is expected try and persuade Congresswoman Ecleo to give up her son peacefully. Nerbes, however, refused to give details of the meeting.

As they were meeting, the first batch of a 50-man augmentation force from the Caraga regional police headquarters arrived while troops from the Army and the Air Force are expected to arrive today.

They will join police from such diverse units as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division, and Regional and Provincial Mobile Groups that will move in on Ecleo once the order is given.

Ecleo has a standing arrest warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court in Cebu where he faces a parricide case in connection with the death of his wife Alona.

But the supreme leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association enjoys the full support of his followers, who have vowed to resist any attempt to arrest him.

Nerbes has temporarily relieved the 10-man police force in San Jose town, Dinagat Island where the Ecleos are based. Except for the police chief, the entire force are said to be members of the PBMA.— Freeman News Service