3 jail execs relieved over Ecleo privileges

CEBU CITY — Three ranking officials of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center here have been relieved of their positions as a consequence of the discovery of a woman inside the isolation cell of cult leader and murder suspect Ruben Ecleo Jr. recently.

The relief order, issued by the Region 7 office of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, directed deputy warden Oscar Capanas and administrative officer Edmund Maboloc to report to the regional office.

Senior Inspector Isabelo Cartin, the jail’s custodial service chief, was reassigned to the Mandaue City jail.

The relief of the three officers was based on command responsibility although this was not mentioned in the BJMP-Region 7’s relief order.

An investigation is expected to be finished in four days.

Set to replace Capanas is Senior Inspector Renante Rubio. Jail warden Lita Quilaton will remain in her post. She, however, wants to be replaced and took a 10-day leave starting yesterday.

"I love this place. But if the people mao lang gihapon (will still be the same), it will only aggravate the (situation)," Quilaton said.

James Labordo, regional chief of the BJMP’s directorial staff, will assume Quilaton’s responsibilities while she is on leave.

Quilaton, appointed jail warden last May, said she will just wait for her retirement which is nine months from now.

Cebu City Medical Center physicians attending to Ecleo, on the other hand, said he was suffering from pneumonia after he complained of chest pains last Sunday.

Ecleo was rushed to the hospital after he complained of chest pains prior to his transfer to another cell, which was prompted by the media’s discovery of a woman inside his isolation cell.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has formally docketed for investigation the alleged special treatment extended to Ecleo as a so-called "adviser" to the inmates of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center.

Ecleo is awaiting trial for the murder of his wife Alona Bacolod. He surrendered last June following a clash between law enforcers and his supporters on Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte. — Freeman News Service