Forget Poe; think De Lima

The Sept. 5 Inquirer carried two News items that should serve as a wake-up call to the leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo: “Court sentences husband to life in jail for marital rape” and “Ousted Iglesia minister happy case is still alive”.

The first item debunks the INC hierarchy’s position that domestic spats (“away pamilya”) and “internal affairs” are forbidden territory for the State’s intervention. Where criminal laws are violated—like anti-violence against women (or wives) and children (Republic Act No. 9262), or illegal detention (Article 267, Revised Penal Code)—the State has the duty to get involved and exact punishment for the offender. Shame on Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senators Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero who said otherwise just to pander to the INC!

The second item puts the INC on a sticky wicket. Much as it wants to contain the damage by claiming the problem is purely “internal,” the determination of the complainant, expelled INC minister Isaias Samson Jr., to pursue the case outside the INC sanctum leaves it no choice but to take the bull by the horns. Its agitation for a mob rule to ratchet up pressure on the government to lay off the case has served only to infuriate the greater majority of Metro Manilans who cried bloody murder in the face of the monstrous traffic jams it created so needlessly.

The only sensible way to get out of the mess that was its own making in the first place is for the INC to persuade the aggrieved party to back off and drop the case. Any deal it supposedly struck with the Aquino administration, which led to the withdrawal of its members from prolonged mass action in the streets, is simply untenable. Its claim of “victory” rang hollow. More likely, it was just face-saving on its part upon realizing the folly of it all.

The INC should recall whistle-blower Benhur Luy getting “pork-barrel scam” suspect Janet Napoles behind bars for a nonbailable charge of “serious illegal detention.” Despite exculpatory statements from some benighted priests who benefited immensely from her generosity, the Department of Justice found “probable cause” to hold Napoles for trial. Can the DOJ afford to play dumb in its investigation of Samson’s complaint? Given Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s reputation for probity and gumption (defying even the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order in former president Gloria Arroyo’s case), no one sees her caving in to any deal that flouts the law.

Heck, we should now forget about Poe! She has turned out to be just another “trapo” and, oh, so soon! De Lima should gun for the presidency—if only to put the kibosh on the malarkey that two million plus INC members can dictate how this country of 52 million registered voters should be run!

—STEPHEN L. MONSANTO, Monsanto Law Office, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, [email protected]