Prosecutor in Ecleo case shot dead

The private prosecutor handling the multiple murder case of controversial cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. was shot dead by an unidentified man while reading his bible inside his office in Cebu City yesterday morning.

Police Regional Office 7 head Director Rolando Garcia identified the slain lawyer as Arbeth Sta. Ana Yongco, 39, of Alcohol St., Barangay Sikatuna, Cebu City.

Garcia said the incident took place at about 8:45 a.m. yesterday when the lone gunman barged into the lawyer’s office located in his residence and shot the victim several times using a handgun believed to be a caliber .45 pistol.

Yongco sustained four bullet wounds in his head and body.

Another suspect reportedly served as a look out outside the office of the victim.

The killers fled towards an unknown direction after the shooting on board a motorcycle without license plate.

Yongco was rushed to Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu but was declared dead on arrival.

Garcia said they have yet to identify the killer and determine the motive for the crime. It was also not immediately known if the killing was connected to Ecleo.

Ecleo, the leader of the alleged cult group Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) who is now detained in Cebu City, is facing murder charges for allegedly killing his own wife, Alona Bacolod, on Jan. 5, 2002.

The cult leader was also charged with the murder of Bacolod’s mother and two other family members on June 18, 2002.

Yongco was reportedly the lawyer of Bacolod family in the multiple case against the supreme master of the PBMA. — With Freeman News Service