EDITORIAL - Good news we have been waiting for

As we said before the very few pieces of good news we receive today are worth sharing, and one recent incident is the arrest of the Philippines’ most wanted fugitive and former Dinagat Island representative Ruben Ecleo Jr.

More than his conviction for graft charges, people will most likely remember him for the murder of his own wife Alona Bacolod Ecleo, whose body was dumped in Dalaguete town in January 2002.

Many of us in Cebu can still remember how big the scandal got; here was a prominent politician and cult leader who was accused of killing his wife. He said the victim was not his wife, and that she was still alive somewhere. The story just got bigger from there with the murder of his wife’s relatives by alleged members of his cult in June that same year after charges were filed against him.

Then there was the bloody police raid to arrest him in his hometown in Dinagat Island in January 2004 where some of his armed guards fought to the death. He surrendered only after a violent gun battle.

He was later found to have received preferential treatment in jail and was even allowed to bring his mistress into his cell.

Also in 2004 the prosecutor of his parricide case, Arbeth Sta. Ana Yongco, was killed allegedly by another of Ecleo’s cult members.

Ecleo was later allowed to leave prison on bail, even if he had been charged with parricide, which is a non-bailable offense. Then allowed to run for office even as he complained he was like a “ticking time bomb” who could “die anytime”.

He went into hiding after his conviction for parricide in 2012 despite the promises of his counsel that he would face whatever was the verdict.

Let’s hope this latest incident is the last chapter in this long story.

If not anything else, his arrest gives people hope that even the most powerful will one day fall for their sins, hope that the long arm of the law will reach even the most well-hidden of offenders, and hope that those who ask for the justice they rightfully deserve will not be denied.

And in these times of despair because of the pandemic and our bleak economic outlook we need all the hope we can get.