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Cult leader Ecleo dies
MANILA – More than a week after he was brought back to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) from a private hospital, former Dinagat Islands congressman and cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr. died of cardiopulmonary arrest on Thursday, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said.
Ecleo, who was serving a life term for killing his wife in 2002, died at the NBP Hospital at 12:20 p.m., the BuCor said in a statement.
On May 4, Ecleo was returned to the NBP in Muntinlupa City, three days after he was taken to the Dr. Sabili General Hospital in Taguig due to liver complications.
He stayed at the hospital for three days “due to some Covid-19 and pre-existing illnesses.”
The “supreme master” of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) was arrested in Pampanga in July last year.
He was convicted by the Cebu City regional trial court for three counts of graft and parricide — for killing his wife, Alona Bacolod-Ecleo in their home in Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City on Jan. 5, 2002.
