The Court of Appeals (CA) on Monday submitted for resolution the writ of amparo petition filed on behalf of former Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister Lowell Menorca II and his family.
Up for resolution is the motion submitted by INC asking that the case be dismissed for being moot and academic and the petition filed by Menorca’s brother Anthony and sister-in-law Jungko.
The petition was filed on October last year after Menorca and his family were taken and allegedly detained by INC after he was suspected of being Antonio Ebanghelista, the blogger who has been writing against INC.
During the hearing, Atty. Patricia Ann Prodigalidad said it is unfair for the CA to rule on the case especially since Menorca has already made a mockery of the proceedings.
READ: Menorca case: Iglesia seeks dismissal of amparo petition
Prodigalidad cited Menorca’s Facebook posts where he expressed distrust in the proceedings.
She even quoted Menorca as saying that there are people in the government under the INC’s payroll.
“He even declared that he does not expect justice in this system,” Prodigalidad told the appeals court.
Menorca’s counsels Trixie Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan told the appeals court that the case should be archived citing the absence of Menorca and his family due to threats to his life.
Under Section 20 of the Rules on Writ of Amparo, the court “shall not dismiss the petition, but shall archive it, if upon its determination it cannot proceed for a valid cause such as the failure of petitioner or witnesses to appear due to threats on their lives.”
Menorca went out of the country after they receive threat to the life of their two-year-old daughter. A family photo with the face of their daughter marked with an “X” inserted in their vehicle’s windshield prompted them to leave the country.
Read: Ex-INC minister who accused sect leaders goes missing — lawyer
However, INC counsel Atty. Moises Tolentino Jr. believed that the supposed threat was part of the “grand plan” of Menorca and his counsel.
“We saw here a grand strategy on the part of Menorca and his lawyers. That picture is said to have been found in the windshield of his car in the compound where their safe house is situated. You must remember that the safe house was some place that only Menorca knew otherwise it would not be a safe house,” Tolentino told reporters.
“What we are saying is that this is apparently a grand plan in order to have something to use to ask the court for the archival of the petition… This is not supposed to be a credible legal ground,” he added.
Tolentino also pointed out that the threat is only in the mind of Menorca.
“What the petitioners are saying is that the threat is in the mind of Menorca. He admitted that. But that is not the requirement of the rule, that is not the requirement of jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is clear, the threat must be supported by substantial evidence and it must be actual, imminent or current threat,” he added.
Tolentino added that it would be useless to seek protection under the writ of amparo because Menorca and his family is already out of the appeals court’s jurisdiction.
“There really is no logical point at all for issuing a writ of amparo in order to protect petitioners beneficiaries Menorca and his family because they opted to leave the country and you can enforce a proceeding of the court like writ of amparo within the jurisdiction of the country or the court,” he said. RAM