MANILA, Philippines — Convicted murderer and former Dinagat Islands congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr. died yesterday, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) confirmed.
Ecleo died of cardiopulmonary arrest at around 12:20, according to BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclag.
Chaclag said Ecleo also suffered from obstructive jaundice secondary to obstructive uropathy.
Ecleo recovered over a week ago from a moderate case of COVID-19.
Chaclag said Ecleo died at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) hospital.
The former lawmaker was brought back to the NBP infirmary after being confined at Sibili Hospital in Taguig City.
Ecleo was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for murdering his wife in Cebu. He was apprehended in Pampanga in July 2020 based on an arrest warrant for graft and corruption issued by the Sandiganbayan. He was transferred to the national penitentiary in August of the same year.
Ecleo is the second high-value inmate to die this week, after drug trafficker Yu Yuk Lai. – Ben Serrano