Fire hits Ecleos’ P66-M property

SURIGAO CITY — Fire of still unknown origin gutted some P66 million worth of properties of the Ecleo clan, including a school, in San Jose, Surigao del Norte last Saturday night, belated reports said.

Razed to the ground were the Don Jose Ecleo Memorial Foundation College of Science and Technology, the annex building of the administration office of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) and the general treasury building of the News Youth Organization.

These structures were built by Ruben Ecleo Sr., the PBMA’s late founder. Since his death, his son Ecleo Jr. has been the group’s supreme leader.

Ecleo Jr. is being tried in Cebu City for the killing of his wife, Alona Bacolod, early last year.

Reports said important documents and financial statements of the PBMA were burned in the blaze that struck at about 7:30 Saturday night.