A messianic cult leader detained for the murder of his wife faces more criminal charges after 23 people died in an orgy of violence during his arrest, Philippine police said.
"Definitely we will file murder charges, attempted murder, and illegal possession of firearms" against Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association "divine master" Ruben Ecleo, said Chief Superintendent Alberto Olario, who took him into custody on Wednesday.
At least 100 policemen raided the cult's commune on the southern island of Dinagat late Tuesday to serve an arrest warrant on Ecleo, sparking a firefight with his supporters that left 16 cult members and a policeman dead and two police officers wounded.
Ecleo, son of a Philippine legislator, had gone in hiding after a court in the central city of Cebu ordered his arrest for the January murder of his wife, Alona Bacolod.
Olario said Ecleo, 47, also faces possible multiple murder charges over the massacre of his in-laws in Cebu on Tuesday night. A brother-in-law, among the slain, was a witness to Alona Bacolod's murder.
"He could be charged for it because it was his employers who committed the killings in Cebu," Olario said over local radio.
Ecleo's parents-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a neighbor were also killed in the attack. Police later shot dead one gunman who they identified as a member of Ecleo's cult.
Olario said when he tried to serve the arrest warrant at Ecleo's hilltop mansion on Dinagat island, "I saw him holding a gun, his bodyguards around him armed with high-caliber weapons. Instead of surrendering, they let loose a hail of bullets."
He said Ecleo surrendered before dawn Wednesday after an army company arrived to reinforce the police.
An unknown number of his followers were also detained to determine which one of them fired guns. Police said there are 50,000 cult members on Dinagat.
"If they fired guns they will be charged, because of the slain policeman," he said.
Olario said police have seized at least 10 firearms from the commune, adding "clearing operations" are continuing to hunt down armed cult members who could have escaped under cover of darkness.
Ecleo, 47, is considered by followers to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
His father, also named Ruben, founded the cult in 1965 and assumed the title of "Divine Master", claiming the ability to revive the dead and the powers of healing, mental telepathy, communication through dreams and prediction.
After the father's death in 1987, the son assumed the title, police said. The group's website claims 3.5 million members in 15 countries.