Gako is the fourth judge who will handle Ecleo’s case following the inhibition of Judges Olegario Sarmiento, Generosa Labra and Anacleto Caminade.
In an interview with the media this week, Gako gave assurance that Ecleo’s case would be his priority, vowing to "give justice to where it is due."
"God is my security officer... let’s get the truth and give justice to where justice is due," he said.
To expedite proceedings, Gako has called for a conference with both the prosecutors and the defense counsels on Monday for them to agree on marathon hearings.
Ecleo’s case was raffled off to Gako’s sala last Monday following a directive from the Supreme Court that the case should be immediately raffled off to a regular court considering that there are no longer other RTC branches that handle cases of heinous crimes after Caminade’s inhibition.
Ecleo stands accused in the killing of his wife, Alona Bacolod, whose body was found stuffed in a garbage bag in a ravine in Dalaguete town two years ago.
When the case was still with her several months ago, Labra granted Ecleo temporary liberty for humanitarian reasons because he was suffering from serious ailments.
The prosecution has a pending petition with the Court of Appeals questioning the granting of bail to Ecleo. — Freeman News Service