Lawyer-activist and Kabayan party-list first nominee Harry Roque on Monday denounced the “irresponsible” statements of former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima concerning the arrest of expelled Iglesia ni Cristo member Lowell Menorca and advised the senatorial candidate to “exercise restraint” in issuing statements “without having all the facts.”
“De Lima’s statements are just plain irresponsible, especially coming from a former Justice secretary and Commission on Human Rights chair. There was a valid warrant of arrest issued by a competent court. In fact, there were two such warrants issued by different courts,” said the UP Law professor.
Roque said that De Lima’s statements were not surprising as this was not the first time she has “thrown out the presumption of innocence” when it comes to the INC.
“What can we expect from De Lima? She has shown a propensity to dip her hands into the affairs of the INC and take advantage of the deep-seated prejudice of the Filipino electorate against the INC to gain media attention and political mileage,” Roque said.
The Liberal Party senatorial candidate said that Menorca’s arrest was “irregular” and “most probably illegal.” De Lima made the comment immediately after being shown an alleged video of Menorca’s arrest.
Police authorities took custody of Menorca on Jan. 20 by virtue of two warrants of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Courts of Lanao del Norte and Marawi City, respectively. Menorca is facing separate libel cases filed by members of SCAN International, an organization composed of INC members who have an inclination to communications and conducts rescue and rehabilitation missions during calamities. Menorca’s libel cases stem from his accusations that SCAN International acts as the INC’s death squad.
De Lima has been accused of bias by INC members after personally receiving the complaint for illegal detention of expelled minister Isaias Samson Jr. against INC leaders.
De Lima also speculated on the merits of the case on national television even before the complaint was heard on preliminary investigation. The case was subsequently dismissed by De Lima’s successor, Benjamin Caguioa, who was recently appointed as justice of the Supreme Court.
Roque said he is “bewildered” by the continued attacks on the INC by personalities close to LP candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas. It has been previously reported that Roxas will never get the INC’s endorsement in the May 2016 elections.
“The libel cases against Menorca were filed by individuals whom he called hooligans and hired killers. The INC has nothing to do with these cases. I cannot understand why they have to continuously drag the church’s name in these cases; any innocent individual accused of being a hitman would do the same thing,” Roque stressed.
