GUNS, GOONS, GOLD ... AND GOD - NEW BOOK

Faith, Hope and Politics
by Marites Da–guilan-Vitug
http://www.pcij.org

FILIPINOS know that traditional politicians keep a tight rein on their offices through guns, goons and gold. In the case of the Ecleo family of Surigao del Norte, add one more element: god.

For more than four decades now, the titular head of the Ecleo family has been venerated as a "god" by his constituents, most of whom are also members of the family's Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA).

When Ruben Ecleo Sr. died in 1987, he bequeathed the community and the cult to his eldest son, Ruben Jr., a rock musician who was more interested in perfecting his guitar-playing skills than in governing the town of Dinagat.

Last week, Ruben Jr. was arrested for parricide and was found positive for shabu, even as thousands of followers came to the defense of their "divine master." The violent clashes between arresting officers and the PBMA left 17 cult members and one policeman dead.

In the 1995 PCIJ book "Boss: Five Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines," PCIJ investigated how politics and religion combined into a potent, if not deadly brew, in the Ecleo family's fiefdom in Surigao. Much of it still holds true, though PBMA now boasts an even bigger and more fanatical following.

Read excerpts of the book:
http://www.pcij.org

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