BLOW TO COPS

Fiscals Clear Ecleo Of Drug Complaint

CULT leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. was cleared of drug charges by the Cebu City
Prosecutor's Office.

The evidence presented was insufficient to warrant an indictment, said
Assistant City Prosecutors Gilbert Moises and Fernando Gubalane.

Ecleo was charged with drug possession after three small packs of shabu
were found hidden in a bar of soap inside his bag, when he was brought to
the city jail for detention.

Acting Cebu City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa approved the resolution of Moises
and Gubalane dated July 8.

The investigators said that while Ecleo did own the bag where the shabu was
found, the theory of constructive possession could not apply.

"Ownership of the travelling bag, which contained the 1.03 grams of shabu
does not necessarily prove possession of said regulated drugs," they said.

Citing the case of US vs. Chan Guy Juan, constructive possession, means
'the relation between the owner of the drug and the drug itself, when the
owner is not in actual physical possession, but when it is still under his
control and management and subject to his disposition.'

In this case however, Ecleo did not have control, management and
disposition of the unlocked travelling bag, the prosecutors said.

"Even before the bag was delivered to him at the PNP Criminal Investigation
and Detection Group (CIDG) Manila by a PBMA member, respondent was already
arrested and detained," they said.

Ecleo was still under detention when he was brought to Cebu City. His bag
was routinely searched prior to his commitment at the BBRC.

Uncertain

Amid Ecleo's jubilation over the favorable resolution, the police, who
filed the charges against Ecleo, appeared uncertain about their next move.

Acting Cebu City Police Director Josephus Angan said they have left
everything to the prosecutor's office after submitting the available evidence.

"We leave it to the judgment of the fiscal, kung unsa ang (whatever is the)
evidence on hand mao ra ang among dad-on (we will just bring it to
them)," Angan told reporters.

Case Investigator SPO4 Cesar Caete said he filed the case and had it
approved by Angan, based on the affidavit of the jail officer who
discovered the illegal drugs inside the luggage.

CIDG 7 Regional Officer Edwin Diocos, for his part, said he will consult
their lawyer on what action to take. He said they may file a motion for
reconsideration.

"Wala pa naman sa korte pwede pang makapag-file nang motion for
reconsideration nyan (Since it is not yet filed in court we could always
file a motion for reconsideration for that)," Diocos told Cebu Daily News
in a telephone interview.

Diocos likewise appealed to the public not to be upset over the resolution,
saying there are still other serious charges against Ecleo, who has tested
positive for shabu.

"We have not lost the war yet, there are still other bigger charges, there
is still the parricide and possibly we could link him to the massacre of
the Bacolod family. Mayroon pa tayong alas (We still have an ace)", Diocos
said.

"We actually are not worried, he still has other charges na
malalaki," Diocos added.

Planted

Aside from expressing elation over the dropping of the drug charges against
him, Ecleo refused to give any further statements, leaving his lawyers to
answer interviews.

He was woken from sleep at around 1 p.m. yesterday as Linda Baltazar, a
member of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, which Ecleo
heads, gave him a copy of the resolution clearing him of drug charges.

Baltazar said they believed all along that the packs of shabu were planted.

"Sa una pa mi natahap nga gi-plant to nil" (We had been suspicious that the
drugs were planted),a Baltazar told Cebu Daily News in a chance interview
inside the BBRC.

Duty

Moises and Gubalane said that as prosecutors, it is also their duty a oenot
to prosecute when the evidence is not sufficient to establish prima facie
casea .

Witnesses, PO2 Pablo Gentalian of the CIDG 7 and Jail Officer Aleth
Romanillos attested to the fact that while the travelling bag was closed,
it was not locked.

Gentalian was the one assigned to claim the travelling bag at the Mactan
Cebu International Airport. He brought the bag to the CIDG office in Camp
Sotero Cabahug, Cebu City. He admitted there were instances when he left
the bag, unattended.

Romanillos for her part said the bag had no lock when it was presented to
her for inspection on June 21, shortly after Ecleo was committed at the
Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC). She found the three packs of shabu.

Ecleo denied the charges and insisted that the three plastic packs
containing shabu were planted.

He said that when he was arrested in San Jose, Surigao del Norte, his
followers packed his personal belongings and placed it inside an Everlight
Creation travelling bag.

He said there was no Ivory soap inside because his followers know that he
only used the brands Heno de Pravia or Dove.

The bag was also thoroughly checked and inspected by CIDG in Camp Crame
prior to his departure to Cebu City.

It was thoroughly checked at the airport and passed the x ray machine
without any shabu being detected.

During the entire trip, Ecleo said CIDG personnel were the ones who carried it.

He said he was later shocked to learn that three heat-sealed shabu packs
were surreptitiously hidden in an Ivory soap discovered from his bag.

Bacolod Massacre

Meanwhile , Diocos said they are gaining headway in the investigation into
the massacre of the family of Alona Bacolod-Ecleo.

Diocos said they already know the source of the Ingram automatic rifle,
used by the lone gunman who strafed the Bacolod family in their home in
Mandaue City.

According to Diocos, the source is from Danao City and is related to a
trial court judge.