House Minority Rep. Ronaldo Zamora has chided the lawyers of cases involving the Iglesia ni Cristo for taking their cases to the media instead of arguing them in the court.
“Shut up and take your cases to court,” said Zamora in a Facebook post entitled “Another Crucifixion: In Defense of Religious Freedom.”
Zamora asked, “Shouldn’t these contending lawyers gag themselves in the meantime, and argue and win their case in our courts, as they were taught in law school?”
The San Juan lawmaker graduated valedictorian of his UP Law class and topped the 1969 Bar examinations.
Zamora took the counsels of expelled INC minister Lowell Menorca II to task for using the media to level accusations against officers of the INC, an exercise Zamora explained was better done inside a courtroom.
“Shouldn’t all this be done in court rather than in the newspapers?” stressed Zamora, who added that both sides would “be given their guaranteed day in court.”
This, the veteran lawyer said, would free the parties “from having to fight and win their case first in the arena of public opinion and only later in the courts of the land.”
Lawyers for ex-INC ministers Menorca and Isaias Samson have taken to social media to respond to issues relating to the string of cases filed against the church leadership.
Lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles, who has been representing both Menorca and Samson in their appellate court and DoJ cases, wrote recently in her Facebook page that “It would save you a lot of grief if you checked your facts once in a while. Do try to find out when Ahmedy and I became government consultants and who exactly appointed us.”
Cruz-Angeles was referring to a statement made by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, who said that she and co-counsel Ahmedy Paglinawan were drawing salaries from the government.
Paglinawan likewise challenged Topacio in his own Facebook account, asking “Are you accusing me of illegally receiving money from this government in relation to the INC cases I’m handling?”
“Explain to me like I’m a 9-year old why I should not haul your ass in court for intriguing against another lawyer in relation to the legitimate exercise of his profession,” Paglinawan added.