Public ‘needed’ to nab high-profile fugitives
SEN. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan will not apologize for the government’s failure to arrest Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr.
Honasan said there are other prominent wanted persons at large, referring to Palawan ex-governor Joel Reyes and retired gen. Jovito Palparan.
“If we want the government to be effective, we give them full support, mo- bility and information,” he told reporters yesterday.
“We even have a wanted Australian national, recently arrested, and who had been hiding in our country for five years,” he said.
Personal experience
Honasan was also on the run from the law for rebellion and sedition charges for his involvement in several coup d’etat attempts during the administration of former president Corazon Aquino.
Yesterday, he promised to address the problem of taking these wanted persons into custody when the Senate resumes its session on May 8.
The Regional Trial Court recently found Ecleo, supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, guilty of killing his wife Alona Bacolod-ecleo. Before that, he was also found guilty in absentia of graft charges by the Sandiganbayan.
Honasan admitted that these setbacks aren’t doing any good for the government’s image.
Limitations
However, he assured that the committees he chairs have been conducting hearings, albeit limited to hearing reports from law enforcement agencies.
“We have no capabilities to validate information (reports) and no intelligence units,” the senator said.
In contrast, these fugitives have gained followers over the years, making it harder for authorities to arrest them.
“I assure you the committee will look into this and continue pounding on them (law enforcers), asking them, ‘ Ano ba ang ginagawa niyo (What are you doing)’?”
Honasan is chairman of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs and the joint oversight committee on the Human Security Act.
The senator was in Cebu yesterday. He was the speaker in the Liga ng mga Barangay regional president and officials’ meeting.