MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said they are planning to put up a reward for the arrest of Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. if the police cannot capture him.
Ecleo, who was recently convicted of parricide for killing his wife Alona Bacolod Ecleo in 2002, is now in the DOJ’s list of most notorious fugitives in the country.
De Lima earlier had questioned why the intelligence units of the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines could not track down Ecleo and two other fugitives, retired Army general Jovito Palparan Jr. and former Palawan governor Joel Reyes.
De Lima said this led her to consider offering a reward for Ecleo’s arrest.
The lawyers of the Bacolod family welcomed the plan. “We will welcome that. It’s just time there is a reward offered,” said lawyer Kit Enriquez.
Lawyer Dakila Barcenas said offering a bounty for Ecleo is up to the DOJ, citing the congressman’s two arrest warrants for graft and corruption and parricide.
– Hector Paolo Diango, Freeman News Service