Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday said the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) should not be judged based on an alleged murder plot bared by a former minister who was purportedly detained and ordered killed for exposing alleged corruption in the religious sect.
In an interview at the sidelines of the 41st Philippine Business Conference and Expo, Binay said the INC leadership has yet to be convicted for allegedly ordering the detention of ten ministers, including former minister Lowell Menorca II who was seized by armed men in Bulan, Sorsogon, and jailed in Dasmarinas, Cavite for alleged illegal possession of explosives.
“I-handle lang sana (yung kaso) ng rule of law, hindi yung rule by law (I hope they will handle the case by rule of law, not by rule by law), ” Binay said.
Asked if the INC should be charged, Binay said: “Tumatalon na tayo ha. Parang tumitiwala kayo na may conviction. Wala pa naman. Allegations pa lang yan. It has yet to be proven. You must have to listen to the explanation.”
Menarco accused the INC of having him kidnapped and ordered killed on allegations that he was the blogger Antonio Ebanghelista, who exposed alleged corrupt activities in the church by the INC officials.
Menarco told reporters in an interview Sunday that he was abducted on July 17, when a group of men handcuffed and threw a jacket over his head as he was led to a vehicle after presiding over a prayer service in Bulan, Sorsogon.
He would later surface detained at a jail in Dasmarinas, Cavite, for allegedly threatening two construction workers with a grenade. But Menarco claimed the construction workers were paid to charge him, and that the same grenade was lobbed into his car by the Dasmarinas policemen to kill him. When the grenade did not explode, the policemen made it look like Menarco was hiding explosives.
He held the interview with the media after the Supreme Court granted his petition for writs of amparo and habeas corpus on Oct. 23 and remanded these to the appellate court for hearing.
Menarco was rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation agents at a house in Fairview, Quezon City last week. He said he and his family were earlier held prisoners for three months from July 25 to Oct 21 at the INC complex in Quezon City.
Menarco said he was let out for an interview denying the kidnapping charges, but he said the interview was scripted with lies.
Since the split in the INC leadership erupted, Binay had kept distance on the controversy, saying he respects the separation of Church and State, and chiding the Aquino administration for meddling in the affairs of the influential religious sect.
The Department of Justice received the serious illegal detention complaint against the INC before Secretary Leila De Lima resigned to run for senator.
Binay even likened the INC’s predicament to his own, as he faces graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly rigging the procurement of the purportedly overpriced Makati carpark building. Binay faces five plunder and graft complaints before the Ombudsman in connection with alleged corruption in Makati infrastructures when he was mayor.
The split in the INC started when Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo’s brother Felix Nathaniel posted a video on Youtube claiming his life was in danger. The Manalo matriarch Cristina “Tenny” Villanueva Manalo also spoke in the video, claiming 10 ministers were detained for allegedly going against alleged corrupt practices of the INC’s Sanggunian, including the alleged corruption that went into the construction of the Philippine Arena.
Among the ministers who were allegedly detained, Isaias Samson Jr., the former editor of INC publication Pasugo, also filed a serious illegal detention case against the Sanggunian before the Department of Justice. Samson was also accused of writing the critical blog posts under the pseudonym Antonio Ebanghelista.
INC legal counsel Patricia Ann Prodigalidad said the INC would respond to the allegations at the proper venue. In a statement, she said the INC “was surprised and saddened by the recent turn of events and the statements issued.”